Alessandro Bastoni is set to sign a new £25,000-a-week deal at Inter Milan after Arsenal failed with an enquiry for the young defender, according to FC Inter News.
When the San Siro welcomed Diego Godin following his much-discussed move from Atletico Madrid last summer, you would have got long odds on one of the finest centre-halves in the game finding himself stuck behind a 21-year-old prospect in Antonio Conte’s pecking order.
So it speaks volumes about Bastoni that he, in his breakthrough season, has dumped Godin onto the bench.
Inter are now set to reward the Italy U21 international with a new long-term deal – just to stop a Premier League giant from conjuring up any bright ideas.
FC Inter News claims that Arsenal and Manchester City have expressed an interest. Neither Inter nor Bastoni were in any mood to discuss a move to England, however, with the former Parma loanee now set to put pen to paper on a five-year deal worth £25,000-a-week.
“I like him so much,” said treble-winning Inter hero Marco Materazzi, speaking to FCInterNews. “He’s mean, he’s got personality and a great future.”
Fortunately for Conte and co, that ‘future’ is set to take place at the San Siro.
For Arsenal, however, their search for a new centre-back is not getting any easier. Dayot Upamecano, Axel Disasi, Gabriel Magalhaes and many, many more have been linked with a move to Mikel Arteta’s side recently but it seems that little progress has been made.
Interestingly, Inter paid £28 million to sign Bastoni when he was just 19 (Calciomercato). Imagine how much he will be worth in another year or two.
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