The signing of Facundo Pellistri (18 years old) by Olympique de Lyon, with which he has been committed until 2025, is practically a fact. The French club and Peñarol have reached an agreement for 5 million euros plus 2 in variables for 60% of the rights of the skilled footballer, the Uruguayan giant reserving the remaining 40%.
For the officers there are only two fringes to be resolved in one meeting set for this Tuesday in the early afternoon. In it they must to specify the payment terms and that the percentage that the Montevideo entity receives for a future sale will be in relation to the capital gain generated by it, not to the total of that eventual transfer. This last detail is key in an operation that has been delayed after the contacts were very positive at the end of July.
Juninho Pernambucano, the main defender of the signing
Pellistri, what will travel on Thursday or Friday to France together with his father and one of his agents (another will wait for them at the destination), renewed until 2022 in February, going to have a clause of 12 million that a month later, with the outbreak of the coronavirus and the economic crisis caused by the pandemic, it was out of the market. The City offered 8 million pounds for 100%, being rejected because for Peñarol it is capital to ensure a percentage of a future sale. Thanks to this formula, € 7.3M will be pocketed for the departure of Darwin Núñez to Benfica.
The first French proposal, on the other hand, was closer to that idea, as this newspaper advanced: 4 million for 60% of Pellistri. The fluctuations with respect to the bonuses or the percentage that Peñarol would remain is due to the delay until reaching an understanding that, barring a setback, will be announced this week.
Juninho Pernambucano has led the way in the negotiations. The current Lyon sports director sees in Pellistri, which was recorded in Juni Calafat's reports at Real Madrid, the ideal player to alleviate the shortcomings of his team on the right wing, with the addition that the boy can also act as a playmaker and even on the left. After 36 meetings with the first team (he could say goodbye to Colo Colo, if Mario Saralegui so decides), the very young '10' from Peñarol will make the leap to Europe. Although that does not focus his attention now, among his objectives stands out that of play some day in Spain.