Fiorentina are all set to beat Stade Rennes in the €15m hunt for Lecce midfielder Marin Pongracic, who impressed at EURO 2024 for Croatia.
The versatile defender can play in the centre, as a right-back or even as a more advanced defensive midfielder.
He turns 27 in September and was also heavily linked with Bologna and Napoli, but the battle was always between Fiorentina and Rennes.
According to Sportitalia, the Viola are on track to secure his signature by matching the offer made by Stade Rennes of €15m.
On top of that, they hope that they have been convincing enough to get Pongracic to agree to the transfer to the Stadio Artemio Franchi rather than towards France.
Pongracic replacing Milenkovic at Fiorentina
He is seen as the replacement for Nikola Milenkovic, who is in the process of making his transfer to Nottingham Forest.
Lecce signed him from Wolfsburg in 2022, initially on loan and then on a permanent basis for €1.6m.
His previous clubs include the Bayern Munich youth academy, RB Salzburg and Borussia Dortmund.