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Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS have been tipped to potentially take advantage of Simone Pafundi’s €15m clause to secure him a transfer to Manchester United in the near future.
INEOS are expected to do away with United’s inefficient policy of signing older players already past their peak and replacing it with a new approach of bringing in a core of young and hungry players on their way up.
The likes of Casemiro, Raphael Varane, Jonny Evans and Christian Eriksen – stars on the wrong side of their respective careers – have all been mentioned to be edging closer to leaving United ahead of the summer window.
Already, United have been linked to young players like Eberechi Eze, Michael Olise, Jarrad Branthwaite, Leny Yoro and Marc Guehi, just to mention a few. These are the sorts of stars that are believed to fit perfectly into Ratcliffe’s new transfer mantra.
Another is Simone Pafundi, who the Red Devils were linked with in January before he completed a switch to INEOS-owned FC Lausanne-Sport.
Pafundi’s arrival at Lausanne-Sport piqued the interest of United fans, especially in light of Ratcliffe’s partial ownership of the 20-time English champions. With the Oldham-born billionaire now taking the helm of the Reds’ sporting operations, speculation continues to swirl around Erik ten Hag’s side potentially joining a network of interconnected clubs, which will include Lausanne-Sport and Ligue 1’s OGC Nice.
According to Italian publication Tuttomercatoweb, INEOS are plotting to exploit a clever clause that could see the 18-year-old Pafundi find himself at Old Trafford.
Pafundi has already been capped by Italy’s senior national team and regularly featured for Udinese before he joined Lausanne-Sport.
He’s still owned by Udinese but his transfer to Switzerland is thought to contain an option to make the move permanent for just €15m.
Tuttomercatoweb note that the Swiss club are prepared to meet this financial obligation and could look to move on Pafundi in an arrangement that could ultimately see him eventually added to United’s ranks.
It’s understood that since he left Udinese, the 2006-born footballer has “finally found the continuity” that he had always lacked in the Serie A.
The report adds, “In the meantime, they [INEOS] have started the first evaluations on the possibility of buying Pafundi from Udinese for 15 million euros. A decision that Lausanne is evidently taking with the entire INEOS group, together with Nice and Manchester United.”
The idea is to retain a player of Pafundi’s qualities in the group: a final decision, however, will be made by the end of the month.”
By keeping the talented Pafundi within INEOS’ grasp, Ratcliffe is clearly leaving a pathway open for the player to one day sport the United badge. This could potentially save United a lot of money and time usually wasted in negotiations and bargaining.
It remains to be seen whether Pafundi moves to United this summer although it’s more likely he will remain in Switzerland for a bit longer to carry on with his development.
