It took quite a bit of back and forth, but Sofyan Amrabat finally secured his dream move at the 11th hour.
The Moroccan international received plenty of plaudits for his strong showings for the Atlas Lions as they made a run all the way to the semi-finals of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. As such, it's no shock that many big clubs were keen on adding him to their squads, and Fiorentina, naturally, were desperate to keep him with them for a bit longer.
However, although the Viola made a surprisingly good run to the Europa Conference League finals last time out, and will be featuring in that competition's group stage, it still was not enough to convince Amrabat to remain at the Stadio Artemio Franchi. The pull of Manchester United and the chance to play in arguably the biggest league in the world, plus experience Champions League football was too great, and after a great deal of wrangling, the Red Devils were finally able to get their player.
Fiorentina were hoping to make approximately $37 million on this deal, but the Red Devils were not able to come up with that sum. Instead, they offered about $10.7 million to acquire Amrabat on a loan deal with an option to buy, which will then cost them over $21 million plus about $5.3 million in add-ons should they decide to make his stay permanent.
Reports claim that Amrabat's medical did hit a slight hitch as Manchester United's medical team noticed that the player is struggling with a back issue but decided to risk it and go ahead with signing him anyway.
Amrabat has now taken the number 4 kit at Manchester United and naturally will be looking forward to linking up with his new teammates after the international hiatus.