Spartak Moscow make ultimate multi-million-euro bid for FC Utrecht star | OneFootball

As per De Telegraaf, Spartak Moscow have made a final offer of €6 million plus half a million in bonuses for Utrecht’s Souffian El Karouani.

The expectation is that a deal can be reached quickly with FC Utrecht for the 24-year-old left-back, who has had a fantastic start to the season. According to journalist Jeroen Kapteijns, El Karouani will still be able to play against Zrinjski Mostar on Thursday. The two sides are open to letting him play the second leg of the Europa League play-off, and El Karouani also wants to play in that match.

Utrecht are defending a 2-0 lead from the first leg and could qualify for the Europa League group stage. If things go wrong, FC Utrecht will feature in the Conference League group stage. Manager Ron Jans expects El Karouani will still be available against Zrinjski Mostar. “I assume he’ll still be there tomorrow. The lineup has already been announced.”

Spartak Moscow approached FC Utrecht last week for El Karouani and submitted a bid of €3 million plus €2 million in bonuses on Monday. That amount has now been increased to a final offer of €6 million plus half a million in bonuses. Since El Karouani is a free agent after this season, this seems like an offer FC Utrecht would find hard to refuse.

El Karouani was acquired on a free transfer from NEC two years ago and has developed fantastically at the Domstad. In January of this year, PSV were interested, yet Utrecht told the player that a transfer during the winter window wasn’t an option. They did cooperate more to a potential move in the summer if an attractive option presented itself and the right fee was available.

In the first eight matches, the Den Bosch native with Moroccan roots provided seven assists and one goal. Last Sunday against Excelsior, El Karouani provided three assists alone.

GBeNeFN | Max Bradfield