Galatasaray have made a bid north of £20m plus further add-ons and bonuses for Norwich City midfielder Gabriel Sara.
The Brazilian playmaker is expected to depart Carrow Road before the conclusion of the summer transfer window and is commanding interest from Premier League and Serie A clubs.
It remains to be seen whether that bid from the Turkish champions will be enough to convince City into a sale, but Gala are understood to be pushing hard to sign the 25-year-old having identified him as a key target.
Talks between Gala and Sara and his representatives aren’t expected to be a problem providing a deal can be agreed. Sao Paulo would be entitled to a portion of any deal struck for their former player, reports in Brazil have stated that figure is 10pc.
Turkish transfer guru Yağız Sabuncuoğlu has tweeted to his 1.4m followers that the two clubs have struck an agreement for Sara to move to Istanbul, with talks with aviation companies beginning about bringing the Norwich man to Turkey imminently.
Brazilian outlet GE add that Sara has signed a contract until 2029 at the Ali Sami Yen Spor Kompleksi with a fee of €23m plus another €3m in add-ons agreed between the clubs.
Further talks are expected in the coming days as Norwich prepare to kickstart their Championship campaign against Oxford United next weekend.
Galatasaray are in the market for a midfielder this summer and have monitored Sara’s progress at Carrow Road for a prolonged period. They have upped their original offer after initial talks were unsuccessful.
The Turkish giants hope that the lure of Champions League football will be enough to convince Sara to join them, but other clubs are lurking and could make their own moves to sign the Brazilian midfielder.
Norwich do want to make a major sale this summer, with Sara a prime candidate to help create income. Sporting director Ben Knapper and City’s recruitment team have scenario planned for all occasions.
They already have a list of targets prepared should Sara depart this summer, with Norwich ready to hit the market immediately.
Sara has featured in every single pre-season game for City to date, but it remains to be seen whether he will play for Johannes Hoff Thorup’s side in their Carrow Road dress rehearsal against St Pauli on Saturday.
Sara has been ever-present in City’s pre-season campaign.
Sara has been ever-present in City’s pre-season campaign. (Image: Adam Harvey/Newsquest)
Thorup was full of praise for Sara’s professionalism when asked about transfer interest in the Brazilian last month.
“He’s definitely professional with a capital P. He’s amazing in everything he does and that’s also what we can see on the pitch whenever he performs – he has a full focus on what he can affect.
“All the other things outside the pitch with rumours and other clubs linked, I think he will leave that to the side,” Thorup said.
“We’ll leave transfer rumours and stuff like that for someone else. That’s not for me, that’s not for Gabby, we just continue improving and I think it was obvious in the game what he can offer.”
Discussion about this post