Torino President Urbano Cairo explains he had to sell Sasa Lukic to Fulham, despite the protests of coach Ivan Juric, because ‘he was never going to sign a new contract.’

The Granata beat Olympique Marseille to Hellas Verona midfielder Ivan Ilic, a specific request from ex-Verona coach Juric, but it came at the expense of Lukic.

The Serbian was sold to Premier League side Fulham for €9.1m on transfer deadline day, ending a long tenure in Turin.

“I was sad to see him go, he arrived in 2016 as a kid, so we saw him slowly mature and grow,” Cairo told Tuttomercatoweb when asked why he had sold Lukic.

“I will reveal an anecdote, when we negotiated the renewal in 2020, his agents agreed for a certain salary and the lad suddenly asks to speak at the meeting. In four years, I’d never heard his voice.

“He asked for an extra €100,000. I told him that since I had heard his voice at long last, I would give it to him. I don’t know why, last year things went that way.

“It was disappointing, but if we had not sold, he would’ve left as a free agent. He was never going to sign, it was the same situation as Andrea Belotti.

“I didn’t want to sell Lukic, but it was the only way to monetize on a player who would never have put pen to paper on a new contract.”

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