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Los Angeles Football Club wrapped up one new signing on Tuesday with the announcement of Egyptian international Omar Gaber joining on loan, but there was also an update on another recent transfer rumor surrounding the club.
The Los Angeles Times’ Kevin Baxter tweeted an update on the status of the reported transfer of Uruguayan striker Diego Rossi on Tuesday:
#LAFC remains in discussions with Uruguayan club Penarol over a reported $3-million transfer for teenage forward Diego Rossi, who has agreed in principle to a designated-player contract. Those talks recently ground to a halt over the final details of the deal. (2/2)
— Kevin Baxter (@kbaxter11) November 21, 2017
I would say in general this update is not unsurprising. Prior transfers with South American and MLS teams have been protracted, with negotiations often running for months, breaking down, and sometimes picking up again.
Given that pretty much every South American team is in a “selling” situation, most eventually agree to transfers. But, there’s an important caveat here: If there are multiple teams bidding for Rossi (for example, LAFC and a team in Europe) Peñarol, like most teams, will try to wring out as much as possible in driving a potential bidding war for the player to drive up his transfer price.
Of course, it’s also possible that LAFC will find the demands of Peñarol to be too much and may decide to walk away. I would say this appears to be far from a done deal at the moment. But the fact that the player has agreed to personal terms means there’s just one big hurdle to overcome to finish the deal, and with a few months before a transfer has to be done for the start of the 2018 MLS season, there’s a solid chance this deal will be completed in the meantime. As ever, stay tuned.
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