Lemina stories are probably old news now

TRANSFER TALK

Earlier this week I posted that Tottenham were interested in Mario Lemina, the played Marseille received an instalment payment from Juventus for and had to pay their staff wages with it rather than go towards the €40m they have to raise.

Midweek Transfer Article

Coming out of Italy are two different stories, one says Juventus are willing to offload Lemina and other stories saying they are not prepared to let him go. All parties seem to agree that RB Leipzig, Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur are the three clubs after him.

The story though seems a little out of date now, given that he is a defensive midfielder and we have just bought one. The 22-year-old (23 in September) French Under-21 player and Gabon international was on loan at Juventus this season with a guaranteed purchase clause to comply with FFP laws and that purchase option has now kicked in.

Reading between the lines it seems some are assuming Juventus wouldn't want to let him go because they have just purchased him, but he was in the same position as Lewis Holtby. The Italians would have no qualms about moving a player on they didn't want. He only played 728 minutes of Serie A football, which hardly suggests he is a linchpin in their side.

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