AS Torino have made a formal bid to tie down Chelsea full-back, Ola Aina to a permanent deal with the Serie A club, as the Turin-based top-flight outfit’s president, Urbano Cairo says they want to keep the Super Eagles’ defender due to his sterling efforts while on loan from The Blues.
Megasportsarena.com reports that, to attract Torino’s move for a permanent deal, Aina played 30 games in his first season in Serie A, 22 in the starting line-up of The Maroons, and netted a goal with three assists, much to the delight of Cairo.
Subsequently, Cairo has now confirmed that Torino will officially write to Chelsea about their intent, with a view to getting the 22-year-old Aina officially away from the London-based side he first signed for as an under-11 player and went on to feature in six games for their first team.
Cairo stressed that Torino have decided to use the purchase option in Aina’s contract when he joined in August on a season-long loan, with a strong hint that a permanent switch could be finalized on Tuesday, if Chelsea accept their offer.
Aina underscored his relevance to Torino on Sunday, as the dark-skinned versatile lad provided an assist in a 3-1 victory against SS Lazio on the last day of the season.
It happened five minutes into the second half, when Aina’s long throw-in found Iago Falqué, who volleyed home to give The Maroons the lead, to add to other assists for Aina, who early got one each against Sampdoria on November 4 and Frosinone on March 10.
Aina, whose only goal of the season came against Udinese in February, can now stay put in Turin for ten million euros at the end of the season, but it remains to be seen if Chelsea will allow him stay, having been hit with a two-window transfer ban by FIFA.
Chelsea were found guilty of breaching rules in connection with minors and it is being speculated that The Blues do not want to sell Aina due to the ban, but Cairo is staying optimistic of a deal early this week.
”Ola Aina? He did well, I will send the letter to Chelsea to communicate that we will exercise the right to purchase, ” Cairo told Sky Sport Italia.
