Toulouse president Damien Comolli suggests that Amine Adli might not play for the club again as the Ligue 2 outfit look to cash in on the reported Arsenal and Leicester City target, while speaking to La Depeche.
Heading into the summer transfer window, Toulouse would have known that they only had two options available to them.
Either they tied Adli down to a new contract or, failing that, they cashed in on a spring-heeled forward who was named the Ligue 2 Player of the Year last season.
According to Tuttomercatoweb, Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal and Brendan Rodgers’ Leicester City have both expressed an interest.
And the fact that Adli has rejected a new deal – with his current contract due to expire in 2022 – will not have gone unnoticed on the other side of the Channel.
Will Amine Adli swap French football for the Premier League?
Toulouse are desperate to sell their star man for maximum value, fully aware that his price-tag will drop substantially as soon as the window slams shut in just over two weeks’ time.
But much to the frustration of president Damien Comolli, Adli is proving rather difficult to shift.
“We are in the situation where we are forced to sell the player for fear of seeing him leave for free in a year. We received two offers. One from a top-five European club for 10 million euros, and one from a top-15 European club for 12 million euros,” said Comolli, a former Tottenham and Liverpool director.
“The player refused the two clubs, which I cannot name but they are gigantic clubs. Foreigner clubs. The player refused to discuss (a transfer) with them.
“For now, these are the offers we have had. We accepted the one at 12 million.
“As of today, Amine Adli is no longer available to the coach. And this is until September 1 at least. He will train but will no longer play the matches.
“We must protect the interests of the club.”
Calciomercato reported at the end of June that the £10 million-rated Adli had turned down approaches from both Arsenal and AC Milan.
Comolli’s frustration, as the sands of time tick by, is understandable.
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