According to reports from TuttoSport via Football Italia, Palermo president Maurizio Zamparini has named his price for in-demand attacker Franco Vazquez.
The 26 year-old has been in fantastic form since the start of the 2014/15 campaign, amassing eleven goals and 14 assists in his last 48 Serie A appearances. This season he’s averaged 3 shots, 2 created chances and 4.5 successful dribbles per match – the latter statistic representing a division-best return by quite some distance.
That superlative run earned the Argentine-born attacker a call-up to the Italy squad in March, whilst attracting interest from Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur during the summer transfer window.
Last month, Zamparini revealed that Premier League champions Chelsea are also targeting the two-cap international, who operates best as a No.10, telling Radio Kiss Kiss Napoli; “Vaquez is the best Italian trequartista at the moment. No-one can turn their nose up when he’s compared to [Michel] Platini.
“He’s a player in great demand, and if he continues to perform as he has been I think this will be his last season in the pink. Milan, Inter and Chelsea want him as soon as the winter transfer window, but no-one will move in January.”
And in a similar strategy that lead to the sale of Paulo Dybala to Juventus in June, at a cost of €40million, the Palermo president has confirmed his intentions to cash in on Vazquez at the end of the season – but only if the club’s €30million valuation is met.
As quoted by Football Italia, he said; “I can’t sell Vazquez in January, they’d kill me in Palermo. I know this is the player’s last season with us though, we can’t hold him beyond that. The way he’s playing, Vazquez is not worth less than €30million. Did Milan ask for him? Yes, but so have another three or four clubs.”