PSV have taken a significant step in the battle for Ayoni Santos. The Eindhoven club have reached an agreement in principle with Sparta Rotterdam over the transfer of the 21-year-old forward, Rik Elfrink of the Eindhovens Dagblad reports.
The deal is worth around five million euros. PSV now only need to reach a final personal agreement with Santos to complete the transfer.
Earlier this week, the reigning champions officially approached Sparta for Santos, only to see an opening bid of several million euros rejected. The Rotterdam club wanted around €5 to €5.5 million for the forward, who is under contract at Het Kasteel until the middle of 2029.
At PSV, Santos is seen as the dream option to strengthen the attack. The Cape Verde international, capped once, can play on the left or behind the striker.
The search for a new forward intensified this week after Couhaib Driouech left for Celta de Vigo. Santos has now made 32 official appearances for Sparta's first team and also came through the Rotterdam club's academy.
He also impressed recently in the Eredivisie match against FC Utrecht, which ended 3-3. Santos stood out in that game with several individual actions.
PSV have until Tuesday 2 September 23:59 to get the deal done. They know from experience that talks with Sparta do not always end in a transfer, after the clubs failed to reach an agreement over Marvin Young last year.
Alongside Santos, PSV have also reached an agreement with NEC over Sami Ouaissa, who is joining for around nine million euros. Meanwhile, Joël van den Berg and Esmir Bajraktarevic could still leave PSV.