HERE’S THE MONEY FOR PAULINHO
Today, Liverpool will be in Milan: 13 million for Coutinho and Inter to blitz for Paulinho in Brazil.
Meeting between the Reds and Inter: once collected the right amount (and added to the 7.5 from Sneijder), the attack Corinthians will start.
Milan – Less than four. After the sale of Sneijder (7.5 million euros plus bonuses) and before the end of the transfer market in 96 hours, we have another sale on the horizon with Inter collecting a lot of money from Liverpool for Philippe Coutinho. Less than four days until January 31, the two transfer market men of Inter in Marco Branca and Piero Ausilio are ready to make the final sprint in order to give Stramaccioni a player that Inter have been following since last July: Paulinho.
Risk to avoid Tonight there is Inter-Torino but before that there is another match: Coutinho versus Paulinho, the match to be played at two tables. The sale of Cou and the acquisition of Pau, in the intentions of Inter, will have to be made practically at the same time to avoid a double risk: going to negotiate with Corinthians without Coutinho and thus “forced” to buy Paulinho; or not being able to close for Paulinho and find the team weakened rather than strengthened with the goal of making the Champions Leaugue next season.
Milan and Brazil Today is an important day because it is expected that there is going to be a meeting, in Milan, between Inter and Liverpool. Also because the blitz by Inter technical director Marco Branca should start in the next few hours. Branca’s mission is to negotiate and close the deal which has been very well established in recent months together with sporting director Ausilio. Only after having a right offer in hand for the sale of Cou, the president Massimo Moratti will give the go ahead for Paulinho: if you don’t sell one, you’re not buying the other and if you are not sure the arrival of the midfielder, the trequartista does not leave.
Painful sale And Strama? He is very clear. “I use the word ‘painful’ because it would mean letting go of someone that I’m fond of and who started this project with us. It was the same with Wes. It ended the way it was supposed to end that’s fine. You have to make choices: if we think it will improve Inter, we’ll do it. If not, we won’t. And regardless of who we have here on 1 February, we’ll fight to the very end. Would it be better to sign a trequartista or a deep-lying playmaker? What’s ‘better’ depends on what you have and what there is going, there’s nothing ‘better’ in an abstract sense. This is the mid-season transfer window and if we can then we must improve Inter with players who are good enough to play for Inter.” Coutinho has evaluated the last two solutions: rekindle the relationship with Mauricio Pochettino, who coached him at Espanyol and today is the coach at Southampton (who offered 12 million); or wearing the shirt of a more prestigious Liverpool who are willing to drop 13 million euros, enough condition for a “painful sale.”
Paulinho, the price Negotiations for Paulinho won’t be easy not because of the personal terms with the player (virtually reached) but more so because of all the commissions, bonuses and especially the release clause. Inter consider it to be 15 but in Brazl, sources are saying that the clause is higher now due to the splitting of the player’s card between Corinthians and Audax Sao Paulo, club owned by Gruop Pao de Acucar. In short, the final mission has just begun.
Source: Gazzetta dello Sport
