Reports are growing that Roma are prepared to sell Nicolò Zaniolo in January for the right price, with Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, West Ham United and Borussia Dortmund all interested.
The Italy international is only under contract until June 2024 and negotiations for a new deal have repeatedly seemed to progress before hitting a brick wall again.
The tension also rose last week when Zaniolo was jeered by his own fans during the Coppa Italia win over Genoa and then skipped the following game, officially due to a stomach bug.
With the contract running down, his value on the market is also dropping rapidly and it would be difficult to get more than €30m in the summer.
Now Sky Sport Italia have joined other Italian sources in suggesting Roma are ready to sell Zaniolo in January, and could even accept a loan with obligation to buy at the end of the season to spread out the cost.
That cost would be circa €40m, dropping to an absolute minimum of €35m.
Tottenham remain the favourites, partly due to the presence of both Antonio Conte and former Juventus director of sport Fabio Paratici.
Arsenal are eager to make a splash on the market after losing out to Chelsea for Mykhaylo Mudryk, while Borussia Dortmund are also mentioned as interested parties.
The development tonight is that West Ham United are in the running for Zaniolo, having already invested in Gianluca Scamacca, where he’d reunite with fellow Italians Emerson Palmieri and Angelo Ogbonna.
What an idiot. His head isn’t on right so the decision is to go to another country? And west ham who don’t play football? What an absolute idiot.