Proper Serie A news has been a little bit thin on the ground over the last few weeks owing to the media being pretty totally focused on the first ever World Cup out in Qatar, but with the tournament now almost at an end, and with the January transfer window quickly approaching, there has still been plenty of rumour mill speculation to keep fans occupied and Fiorentina are finding themselves linked with both a few players in, and a couple of players out.
With the performances put in by the Moroccan international side – whose odds to win the world cup have dramatically improved in the last 24 hours – a number of their players have become proverbial go to names for journalists looking for easy speculation, and 26 year old Fiorentina midfielder Sofyan Amrabat has been a favourite in the last few days with sides like English Premier League duo Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur heavily linked.
With some speculation that a tentative meeting has already been held over a potential move to the Anfield side in particular, it is now being suggested that Fiorentina have turned their attentions to Amrabat’s international team mate, Abdelhamid Sabiri.
The 26 year old midfielder moved to Sampdoria during the last summer transfer window having had a successful loan spell with the side in the second half of the 2021/22 campaign, and it was originally rumoured that they might be willing to do a deal at around the 10 million Euro mark and that discusses had been held at around that sort of ballpark.
However, just as Amrabat’s World Cup performances have slightly increased his value, it is now being claimed that Sampdoria would now demand at least 15 million Euros for his services.
The slight valuation increases here do make sense given the stage the World Cup offers players, and for the Moroccan contingent, having topped their Group F battle with a draw against Croatia, and two victories over Belgium and Canada, their tournament just keeps getting better. At the Round of 16 stage they hammered Spain 3-0, and backed that up with a 1-0 victory over Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal side to put them through to the Semi Final stage where they will now reining World Cup holders, France.
Reaching the Semi Finals of the World Cup is an achievement in itself, but for Morocco, they have now booked their place in the football annals of history as the Portugal win saw them become the first ever African nation to make it to this stage of the tournament.
That could well possibly further increase any valuations applicable to both Amrabat and Sabiri, and although it is an educated guess to think that maybe Fiorentina are looking at Sabiri as a potential replacement for Amrabat given the links to Anfield side Liverpool in particular, it could just as easily be that they see them playing alongside in the future – where the added bonus is bringing in someone Amrabat knows well to try and further help convince him to remain for at least few years more before seeking pastures new.
With it now only being a couple of weeks before the European transfer window in January is upon us, we will soon see who makes a move and who does not.
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