>
Fulham ‘close to completing an £8.8m deal for Torino’s Sasa Lukic’… with the Italian club willing to let the midfielder go as they ‘closer to signing Ivan Ilic from Hellas Verona’
- Fulham look set to sign Sasa Lukic from Torino on a three-and-a-half-year deal
- The Italian club has authorized its sale as it is close to signing Ivan Ilic
Torino midfielder Sasa Lukic is closing in on a move to Fulham as the Serie A club move ever closer to signing Ivan Ilic from Hellas Verona.
The Premier League side have a history of dipping into the Italian market and are now waiting for the green light from Turin to proceed with the final details of the deal.
Fulham have offered €10m (£8.8m), including bonuses, to bring the 26-year-old to Craven Cottage, according to Tuttosport.
Sasa Lukic will join Fulham from Italian club Torino until the summer of 2026
Torino close to signing central midfielder Ivan Ilic from Hellas Verona
Lukic will have a €2m-a-year (£1.8m) contract that runs until 2026, and his current club are willing to let him go, despite previously considering him as a possible future captain.
Torino are in favor of selling him to get the money needed to keep Nikola Vlasic and Aleksey Miranchuk, both currently on loan from West Ham and Atalanta respectively.
Selling Lukic would guarantee the club a great transfer fee and immediately make room for the talented Ilic without creating financial problems for the club.
Lukic looks set to end his Torino career after six years at the club.
Lukic will give Marco Silva another option in midfield for the second half of the season
During this period, he established himself internationally with Serbia, representing his country at the recent World Cup in Qatar.
His performance in the Middle East drew the attention of several clubs across Europe, who reacted by adding him to their January wish list.
Lukic lobbied to leave Torino in August and was left out of the squad for the season opener due to behavior that was condemned by the club’s sporting director.
However, Torino manager Ivan Juric managed to get Lukic back on board, helping the midfielder get over the disappointment of not being able to reach an agreement with the club on a contract extension.
Negotiations over a renewal began once again in the final months of 2022, but no deal could be reached, and now seems the right time for Lukic and Torino to part ways.