Real Madrid have exercised their buyback option on Nico Paz, paying Como €10 million to reclaim the Argentine playmaker, ending any possibility of the Lake Como club retaining him for their Champions League debut and opening a new chapter in one of the summer’s most intriguing transfer sagas.
According to TuttoMercatoWeb, reports from Spain indicate Madrid’s activation of the buy-back is imminent.
Como retain preferential rights to re-sign Nico Paz but are not understood to be prepared to meet the expected asking price of €60 million.
That is precisely the figure Inter are hoping Real Madrid will set as their selling price, and at that number, Beppe Marotta would move quickly. The risk, as the Palestra saga demonstrated, is that Premier League clubs enter the picture and drive the price beyond anyone’s expectations.
Inter leverage Dumfries goodwill and presidential relationship in pursuit of Nico Paz
Inter’s strongest card in this pursuit is the relationship between Marotta and Florentino Perez.
The two presidents met recently at a legends match between the clubs, and the Dumfries transfer, concluded smoothly and ahead of the formal activation of his release clause, in a gesture of goodwill that Real Madrid noticed, has left a positive impression in Madrid.
Inter deliberately avoided complicating those negotiations, and are now hoping that cooperative spirit can be converted into preferential treatment in the Nico Paz discussions.
Whether that goodwill is enough to keep Premier League clubs at bay remains to be seen.