Sevilla are planning to exercise their option to purchase another 40% of Lucien Agoume’s rights, in anticipation of a potential transfer exit later this summer.
Arsenal have been linked with a move for Sevilla midfielder Lucien Agoume in recent days, as Thomas Partey edges closer to departing the club at the end of his current deal next Monday.
As it stands, Sevilla only own 50% of Agoume’s rights, with the rest belonging to Inter Milan. So if Sevilla sold Agoume to Arsenal (or anyone else), they’d only take 50% of the profits.
But Sevilla have an option to buy another 40% of Agoume’s rights for an additional €4.5m, on top of the €4m they paid for him last summer. That would mean they could then keep 90% of the profits from his sale, with only 10% going to Inter.
ElDesmarque report that Sevilla plan to exercise this option, though they have until July 31st to do so. At the very least, they’re likely to wait until after the current financial year ends on June 30th.
The same outlet confirms that the purchase of a greater percentage of Agoume’s rights does not guarantee he’ll stay. In fact, the suggestion is that he’ll take a “new leap in his career”, with Arsenal seemingly among his suitors.
James McNicholas reported for The Athletic this week that Arsenal are discussing potential alternatives in case Partey leaves, and Agoume is on that shortlist. But so is Christian Norgaard, with the Gunners already submitting a bid for the Danish international.
Sevilla’s intention to purchase a greater percentage of Agoume’s rights does give us a hint of how much they’re expecting to bring in for his departure.
There would be no point purchasing 40% of the midfielder’s rights for €4.5m unless they think they can then sell him for more than €11.3m (£9.6m). They would simply lose money on the two transactions. So any Arsenal bid under £10m is likely to fail.