Revealed: Why Gabriel Moscardo's transfer to PSG has been put on hold despite French giants triggering former Chelsea & Barcelona target's €20m release clause

The 18-year-old's move to the French capital appeared imminent, after the capital club triggered his €20 million (£17m/£22m) release clause and beat the likes of Chelsea and Barcelona to his signature. According to The Athletic, Moscardo travelled to Paris for a medical on Friday but tests detected a foot fracture that will now require surgery. As a result, PSG's plans to sign the young midfielder have been put on hold as they await the outcome of that procedure.

Despite an agreement being reached in the winter window, the expectation was that Moscardo would join PSG in July. These plans now depend on the outcome of said surgery, which The Athletic reports will take place in Doha, Qatar, under the agreement of current employers Corinthians. If successful, the capital club could pay an excess of €2 million (£1.7m/$2.2m) in appearance-based add-ons.

Despite those financial extras, Corinthians president Augusto Melo has slammed the sale of one of his star players for a cut-price, as he told a press conference on Tuesday (via RMC Sport): "From the outset, we were against the sale. It's a reality, and I mentioned it at certain meetings. I was not in favour of selling. The players trained at the club will always be a third income. First it will be a shirt, then lace: we want our players to be trained, to give us titles before being valued. He's selling at an incredible price. I had to take part in this negotiation, even though it wasn't something we wanted, but, to give you an idea, if we didn't accept, they would have paid the clause that was cheaper. Why didn't they increase Moscardo's clause? Why didn't they increase it when he was extended?"

The French giants will await the results of said foot surgery, before seeing if other procedures are necessary for the youngster. If all goes through, it will be a remarkable turnaround for Moscardo, who only made his senior debut back in June. He has represented Brazil's Under-23 side but is yet to make a senior international appearance.