The FIFA intermediary confirms Milan and Fulham are “close” to completing the Adel Taarabt-Cristian Zaccardo swap.
The FIFA intermediary confirms Milan and Fulham are “close” to completing the Adel Taarabt-Cristian Zaccardo swap.
It has already been reported this evening that the two players will exchange places on six-month loan deals, although Taarabt is still owned by QPR.
“Fulham needed a defender and asked me to find them some solutions,” FIFA agent and intermediary Vincenzo Morabito told MilanNews.it.
“Thinking of what could be most useful, I thought to bring Zaccardo to England in exchange for Taarabt. Everyone gains from this, as Cristian can do well in the Premier League and maybe even earn a spot here next season, while Taarabt is only 24 and had many clubs interested up until last year.
“Taarabt has a lot of talent and can cover many different roles. I think he can be a nice surprise for Italian football.
“Negotiations are at an advanced stage. The players have agreed and we are close to a deal. Tonight Fulham have a game, so we’ll return to discussing it tomorrow morning, but we can say we’re on the closing straight.”
Morabito also explains his QPR ownership is not a problem because he didn’t play for them this season, so won’t technically be with three clubs in one campaign.
“The current Fulham manager is a hard fellow, kind of like Sir Alex Ferguson. That’s why he doesn’t particularly like players with a lot of character.”
Taarabt is not even on the bench for tonight’s Swansea-Fulham match.