Bologna winger Gaston Ramirez, who has been linked with Liverpool and Southampton, is ready to go on strike in a bid to force through a move to England.
Liverpool had been seen as favourites to sign Ramirez for some time after he recently rejected the chance to join Tottenham, but last week, a surprise move to newly-promoted Southampton looked likely after they tabled an £11.8million bid for the Uruguay international.
Bologna president Albano Guaraldi later insisted that the Saints’ ambitious bid for the 21-year-old had not been accepted, and reports in the past 48 hours have suggested both Liverpool and Tottenham are ready to make renewed attempts to sign the Uruguay international.
Ramirez’s agent, Pablo Betancourt, on Thursday said negotiations with Southampton had ended and claimed that the south coast club had told him were looking at another target.
And speaking to Sky Sport 24 late on Friday, Guaraldi said: “The negotiations with Southampton are at a standstill because they haven’t given us the financial guarantees we asked for and so we’ve put things on hold.
“Our relationship with them remains a friendly one but both parties has conflicting demands.
“Last year Ramirez was getting a bit restless and I promised that this year he would be sold, at a certain price.
“This year no such offer has arrived, the conditions have not been met.
“We carried on with negotiations regardless but we couldn’t reach an agreement.
“At the moment we’re trying to resolve the situation, but the two parties can’t agree so the discomfort and nervousness is understandable.”
And with the saga set to continue, Guaraldi added: “He’s very angry, Ramirez has told me that he’s threatening not to play any more.
“I’ve tried talking to him, to explain the situation, that I can’t sell him without guarantees.
“Footballers are often badly advised and in this case his agent has made moves without our knowledge.
“There has been no concrete proposal to date, there has been some contact from abroad, but we aren’t prepared to let him go for less than a certain figure.
“If the conditions that we laid out at the start of the transfer window are met, the player will be sold, otherwise we wait.
“His price? Bologna are looking for €15million net.”
