Thursday, July 7, 2022 at 11:19 am• Guy Habets

Ajax and Olympique Lyon have reached an agreement on a transfer from Nicolás Tagliafico L’Equipe familiar. The Argentine back can make the switch to France for four million euros, but is still unsure whether he wants to. Tagliafico would deliberately hold back, in the hope that another club would come forward.

In France it is reported that Ajax has accepted an offer from Lyon for Tagliafico. That would amount to four million euros excluding bonuses, with which the Argentinian’s one-year continuous contract can be bought off. OL however, also has to come to a personal agreement with the defender and that is the sore point for the French. Tagliafico spoke to a representative of Lyon on Monday and has not provided any clarity since. The club of trainer Peter Bosz suspects that the back is deliberately holding off the boat.

Lyon would like to push ahead, so that Bosz can have a full selection as soon as possible. However, it encounters opposition from Tagliafico, who has not yet responded to the French proposals. Earlier it became clear that Brighton & Hove Albion, Nottingham Forest and Barcelona are also interested in the defender, so it is quite possible that the Ajax player is waiting for a better offer. Tagliafico would also have set his sights on Champions League football and all the above clubs do not play that.

In January 2018, Tagliafico was acquired by Ajax from Independiente for four million euros. In the more than four years that followed, the left back became a crowd favorite in the Johan Cruijff Arena, played in the team that caused a furore in the Champions League in the 2018/2019 season and earned his debut in the Argentina national team. In total he already played more than 150 official matches for Ajax.