Pogacar to team up with Jay Vine? Surprise transfer is "closer and closer"

UAE Team Emirates have signed the likes of Adam Yates, Domen Novak and Felix Grossschartner to reinforce it's mountain lineups for 2023, but they have likely not finished, as the team seems to be closer and closer to signing Jay Vine.

A winner of the Zwift Academy program in 2020, Vine has stepped up to ProTeam level with Alpecin-Deceuninck, where he began showing off his climbing skills. 2022 was a true breakthrough year however, and although Vine currently has a contract until the end of 2023 with the Belgian team who are rising to World Tour level, there is an attempt to buy out his contract.

UAE Team Emirates are "closer and closer" to signing Vine according to Gazzetta dello Sport's Ciro Scognamiglio. The rumours have emerged several weeks ago, and a move seems increasingly more likely.

This type of transfer is not unheard of, however it is fairly uncommon for a teams to reach an agreement. If it is to happen it could happen under two different scenarios: Alpecin-Deceuninck agree to let Vine go in exchange for a fee (such as Egan Bernal's INEOS transfer in 2018), or Vine would terminate his contract with the team on mutual interest, to then be signed by a different squad (such as Ruben Guerreiro into Movistar, officialized weeks ago).