C. A. Velez Sarsfield right-back Gino Peruzzi has turned down a concrete offer from Sunderland A.F.C., much to the surprise of the club’s vice-president Julio Baldomar, Sky Sports understands.
Over the past two seasons, Peruzzi, 21, has scored one goal in 47 first-team appearances for Velez Sarsfield.
The Argentina international, who held Brazilian ace Neymar in check during the quarter-finals of the 2012 Copa Libertadores, has also attracted interest from F.C. Internazionale Milano and Manchester City in recent months.
The Argentine champions have already agreed a fee, believed to be in the region of £5 million, for Peruzzi, but the highly-rated 21-year-old defender has failed to agree terms with the Black Cats.
According to Velez Sarsfield vice-president Julio Baldomar, this has never happened to the club.
“The player and his agent have said that what Sunderland offered him isn’t enough. This has given us several problems,” said Baldomar.
“We got to an arrangement from club to club very fast. We arranged the amount of the transfer and everything was okay between Velez and Sunderland.
“But, suddenly, the player and his agent have said that what has been offered as a contract to Peruzzi isn’t enough.
“This situation is something really weird. Usually, when a proposal arrives from Europe, the player is the first person interested in having the transfer done. And, even in this case, when an offer has arrived from English football, the player should be really interested.”
Both Sunderland — who have already signed six players, Cabral, David Moberg Karlsson, Jozy Altidore, Modibo Diakité, Valentin Roberge and Vito Mannone, this summer — and Velez want to wrap up a deal as soon as possible, but Peruzzi’s long-term future is still hanging in the balance.
David Villa to join Atletico
FC Barcelona have agreed in principle to sell Spain international forward David Villa to Atletico Madrid for a fee of £ 4.4million, The Telegraph reports.
Villa, 31, has been heavily linked with Tottenham Hotspur in recent weeks, with Andre Villas-Boas reportedly keen on bolstering Spurs’ attacking options ahead of next season.
However, Spurs have missed out on yet another top transfer target and will have to look elsewhere to improve their 25-man squad.
“FC Barcelona and Atletico de Madrid have reached an agreement in principle for the transfer of the player David Villa to the Madrid club,” read a statement on the Spanish champions’ official website.
“The operation will cost a maximum of 5.1 million euros (£4 million), made up of 2.1 million euros this season, two million more if the player remains at Atletico in 2014/15 and another million if he extends his contract until 2015/16.
“In the meantime Barcelona retain the rights to 50 percent of any future transfer of the player.”
Villa, Spain’s all-time leading goalscorer, bagged 16 goals and six assists in 43 appearances in all competitions for Barcelona last season.
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