West Ham United were quoted £26m for former Sporting Lisbon midfielder Battaglia but Premier League newcomers Fulham could now reportedly sign him.
Back in April, O Jogo reported that Sporting Lisbon were demanding £26 million for Rodrigo Battaglia amid interest from the likes of West Ham, Inter Milan, Napoli and Roma.
For the last month, however, the Argentine midfielder has been a free-agent after becoming one of a number of players to terminate his contract following a series of issues at Primeira Liga outfit Sporting Lisbon.
Despite a number of clubs being linked from the Premier League and around Europe, however, Battaglia has been strangely absent from the gossip columns. Although reports from Record suggest that the 27-year-old is stepping up his pursuit of a new club.
It is reported that newly promoted Fulham have been offered the opportunity to strengthen their midfield further with the signing of Battaglia.
Sporting Lisbon have been in negotiations to try to convince the former Braga star to return to the Estadio Jose Alvalade, but it seems that they are now looking at alternative options, including the Montenegrin midfielder Nikola Vukcevic.
The intelligent and exciting Battaglia, who is renowned for his dribbling ability and accurate distribution, started 21 of his 33 league appearances for Sporting in a tumultuous campaign, scoring once and providing two assists.
Fulham are understood to be chasing another midfielder after the arrival of Jean Michel Seri, so it will be interesting to see if the Cottagers take up this option to sign Battaglia.
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