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Liverpool and Chelsea may get one last chance to sign former target Gabri Veiga after a ‘special clause’ reportedly held up the midfielder’s move to Napoli. The Celta Vigo starlet was linked with the Premier League earlier this summer but a transfer did not materialise.
Both Premier League clubs identified their midfields as areas to improve ahead of the 2023-24 season. Veiga was one of the players earmarked as someone who could add strength to the area for each team.
But the top-flight duo instead focused on other targets. Chelsea signed the likes of Moises Caicedo and Lesley Ugochukwu, while Liverpool added Wataru Endo, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szobsozlai to their ranks.
Veiga could now be available, though, after the young Spaniard’s switch to Serie A champions Napoli supposedly hit the buffers. It is claimed that a unique clause is holding up the move.
According to Relevo, Napoli want 100 per-cent of the player’s image rights. This is a common clause inserted into the contracts of Napoli stars, owing to president Aurelio De Laurentiis’s background as a Hollywood movie producer.
De Laurentiis’s insistence on having the clause in the contracts of new signings has reportedly stalled several deals in the past. The report claims that Veiga’s transfer falls into that category.
Liverpool and Chelsea might choose to seize the opportunity to hijack a move for Veiga. It is claimed in the report that Napoli agreed a deal with Celta Vigo worth £34m.
That would be a much cheaper deal for both teams than some of the other transfers they are supposedly targeting going into the final two weeks of the transfer window. And in Veiga, either team would be getting an excellent player who could contribute immediately.
