Lutsharel Geertruida's move to PSV took another step forward on Thursday, but the deal is still not fully over the line. The 26-year-old defender has now come through his medical in Eindhoven, yet PSV are still strangely waiting for final approval from RB Leipzig.
According to transfer market expert Mounir Boualin, Leipzig's supervisory board still need to give the final sign-off on the agreement. Why that approval has not yet arrived is unclear, although the final green light could follow quickly given the current state of affairs.
Geertruida travelled to the Netherlands on Tuesday evening ahead of his medical and the completion of his temporary move. The tests were initially scheduled for Wednesday morning, but they did not go ahead because Leipzig had not yet given definitive permission.
One issue between PSV and Leipzig still needed to be resolved and that still had not been fully done by Thursday afternoon. Even so, Geertruida got permission on Thursday afternoon to complete his medical, taking an important practical step towards the transfer.
On Tuesday, PSV and Leipzig reached an agreement in principle over a one-season loan deal with an option to buy. The Eindhoven club would reportedly pay a total of around €6 million for the loan period, allowing Leipzig to take Geertruida's full salary off their wage bill for the coming season.
That option to buy would be around €13 million, but PSV are not expected to simply trigger it at the end of the season. The combination of the transfer fee and the salary of the former Feyenoord player would place a considerable strain on the financial scope of the reigning champions, De Telegraaf reports.
PSV see Geertruida as the preferred answer to the vacancy created by Jerdy Schouten's serious knee injury. The club's technical leadership believe he suits coach Peter Bosz's football because he is comfortable on the ball, can defend with a lot of space behind him and is strong in duels.
Elsewhere, Geertruida had attracted interest from several countries, while Feyenoord and Ajax also enquired about his situation, but the Netherlands international preferred PSV.