Guimaraes leading way to sign Krovinovic - but Norwich City looking to hijack move
It looked all but confirmed that Vitoria Guimaraes were to strengthen their side by loaning in Croatian midfielder Filip Krovinovic.
Leading the race to sign the 23-year old unopposed, Benfica were happy with the offer, as was Krovinovic, with the finances and game time agreed deemed acceptable by both parties.
But English side Norwich City, who have just been promoted to the English Premier League, have been looking to hijack the move in the final hour, scuppering the agreement already reached between Benfica and Guimaraes.
However, Benfica are only willing to accept the offer from Norwich City should they be tabling a more tempting financial offer than that which has already been agreed with Vitoria.
With arrangements already in place, Norwich will have to act fast to take Krovinovic from under the noses of Guimaraes, now managed by Ivo Vieira.
Guimaraes remain the most likely destination for Krovinovic, the deal could be made official by the start of next week, but the ball is in Norwich’s court; if they come up with a more financially beneficial offer, they can take the Croatian youth international.
Krovinovic struggled for game time last season, appearing in just 4 Primeira Liga games for Benfica spanning over just 36 minutes of football.
It came after he suffered from a cruciate ligament rupture late on in the 2017-18 season, which took him out not only for the last few months of that campaign, but also the first 10 gameweeks of this most recent season.
He has been unable to make any impact at Benfica since then, and it therefore comes as no surprise that he is being loaned out.
Krovinovic is still only 23 years of age though, and there are still some big hopes for the 11 time Croatia U21 individual.
Indeed, in that 2017-18 season before he got injured, he played in 13 league matches, playing the entirety of 9 of those outings in attacking midfield, scoring one and assisting another in the process, and impressed the Benfica faithful.
Carrow Road exterior. Photo author: Pierre Terre. License link.
