Manchester City will have to pay big if they want to sign reported target Mehdi Benatia from Roma this summer.
Reported Manchester City target Mehdi Benatia will cost €61million according to Roma’s director of football Walter Sabatini.
It had previously been claimed that Manuel Pellegrini’s club had bid €30million for the centre-back. But following those reports Sabatini said the following in quotes published by Goal:
“Personally I think €30million is the value of Benatia’s weak foot. If Benatia’s weak foot is worth €30million then the total price would be €61million.”
I am not quite sure how the maths works out there, but the message appears to be that if City want the Morocco international they will have to dig deep.
The Blues have long been linked with a new centre-back to partner Vincent Kompany, and following links with FC Porto’s French international Eliaquim Mangala it seems Benatia is the new favourite. Or at least he was before Sabatini put that price-tag on his head.
The 27-year-old enjoyed a sparkling campaign in Serie A and, with a contract until the summer of 2018, it is no surprise Roma feel they do not need to sell unless a huge offer comes in.
It is highly unlikely City will go anywhere near that price, especially when you consider the likes of Mangala and Atletico Madrid’s Miranda could be signed for considerably less.
But it will be interesting to see if the Premier League champions do return with an improved offer, this time taking into consideration his stronger foot, too.
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