Club ‘not that desperate’ to consider swaps for Man Utd target

Matt Stead

Brescia are “not that desperate” to consider swap deals for Manchester United target Sandro Tonali.

Tonali was linked with a €60m Manchester United move in March as the 20-year-old continues to consider leaving the club he joined as a youth player in 2012.

Currently bottom of Serie A, Brescia realise there is little chance of fending off interest from Manchester United, Inter Milan, Juventus, Barcelona and Napoli.


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But president Massimo Cellino has warned any potential suitors against making part-exchange offers in what is certain to be a difficult summer transfer window.

Barca in particular have openly discussed the prospect of player trades in lieu of money, yet Cellino will resist any attempt to offload fringe squad players onto his struggling team.

“So far there’s only been a few phone calls, without anything beyond that,” Cellino told Gr Parlamento.

“It’s difficult to talk about [the transfer market] after everything that’s happened, but I hope the lad keeps having fun on the pitch like he did before.

“I wouldn’t like all these rumours to lead to another problem, which hurts our chances of staying up.

“Inter and Juve have both asked me about him, as have other teams. What’s for certain is that the player wants to stay in Italy and we’ll accommodate him.

“I don’t like swap deals. We’re not that desperate.”

There goes the chance to see Phil Jones thrive in northern Italy.

Cellino has previously mentioned Inter and Juventus as “the destinations he prefers,” despite offers of €40m from Napoli and €65m “plus two very interesting young players” from Barcelona.

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