Argentinos Juniors chairman Cristian Malaspina admits they won’t stop Celtic target Fausto Vera from leaving and could be forced to sell him - but only if they receive an offer that they can’t refuse with the club reportedly looking for around £5.5 million for the highly-rated midfielder.
The Scottish Premiership champions were handed a boost in their pursuit of the 22-year-old midfielder when it emerged that Brazilian side Corinthians and Belgium's Genk both had bids booted out and at just £3.4 million they were understood to be well short.
However, the midfielder’s club president Malaspina has spoken of his player potentially moving on, with 18 months left on his deal, and says they are open to negotiations but it has been reported in South America that they will also be looking for a 30 per cent sell-on clause inserted into any deal with Flamengo another side said to be interested.
Vera came through the ranks at Argentinos Juniors and made his top team breakthrough at the age of just 19 with Malaspina, who played for Argentina at the Tokyo Olympics and U-20 World Cup, also floating the idea of selling the midfielder before being loaned back until September. However, that would be unlikely to suit Celtic who kick off their Champions League group stage campaign in September.
Speaking in an interview with Radio Punto in Argentina, Malaspina admitted: “As a club, when there is a value that cannot be refused, we have to negotiate. Nobody is irreplaceable. But, equally, it is also a position that we are covered. We are calm if it happens. It is a possibility we sell and then he stays with us (until September) which would be the ideal scenario. But it could be that a club that comes to buy has other ideas. We are working. He has been with us for a long time and we have to be sensitive too. It is not easy.”
Celtic have signed Vera's countryman Alexandro Bernabei along with Benjamin Siegrist and last season's loanees Jota and Cameron Carter-Vickers.
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