Paris Saint-Germain are set to seal the loan arrival of Inter Milan’s Mauro Icardi with an option to buy, sources have told ESPN FC.
The Argentina international has been told he can leave Inter, which has led to him being offered to the French champions and sporting director Leonardo considering the deal.
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Inter have tried to offload Icardi all summer, dropping him from the first-team squad, and he is not part of coach Antonio Conte’s plans for this season.
Icardi, 26, who has scored 121 goals in 219 Serie A appearances with the Nerazzurri, has rejected the other teams who have shown interest in him this summer.
He is under contract with Inter until 2021 and although talks between PSG and the Serie A outfit are ongoing, ESPN FC sources indicated the player is expected to extend his contract before an option to buy for around €70 million is inserted into the deal.
Regardless of the negotiations, sources have told ESPN FC that Icardi is expected in Paris later on Monday to undergo his medical ahead of his switch to Parc des Princes and is set to join Real Madrid goalkeeper Keylor Navas as the Ligue 1 giants’ main deadline day business.
PSG have been looking for a striker after Edinson Cavani and Kylian Mbappe suffered recent injuries which could keep them out of their Champions League Group A opener at home to Real Madrid after the international break.
Neymar, although he had been expected to leave for Barcelona this summer, will now be staying in the French capital, according to ESPN FC sources.
However, the Brazil international is suspended for the first half of the Champions League group stage, so is not a short-term solution to that problem.
Information from ESPN FC’s Julien Laurens was used in this report.