Roma midfielder Nemanja Matic hopes to see the ‘very talented’ Nicolo Zaniolo stay in Serie A as Tottenham Hotspur hold talks regarding a potential January switch to the Premier League, speaking to Sky Italia.
With just over a week remaining before the deadline, we are reaching that stage of the window where that phrase starts to creep into our lexicon. You know the one. When an exit-linked player, either directly or indirectly, gives an indication that he wants to leave before the transfer deadline. ‘His head’s been turned’.
There was nothing indirect about the way Nicolo Zaniolo informed Jose Mourinho of his desire for a fresh start, however. The 23-year-old was conspicuous by his absence as the Giallorossi beat Spezia 2-0 away from home on Sunday; Roma’s former boss Jose Mourinho admitting at full-time that the Italy international told him he ‘wants to leave’.
According to SportMediaset, Zaniolo has made it clear, too, that Tottenham is his preferred destination.
But, as ever with Spurs, things are far from simple. There are shades of the Pedro Porro deal with Sporting Lisbon; Roma wanting a permanent deal, Tottenham pushing for a loan with an option-to-buy.
Antonio Conte’s out-of-sorts side failed to twist Sporting arms with a player-plus-cash bid for Porro, and a similar approach for one-time Inter Milan youngster Zaniolo is likely to suffer the same fate. Roma, Fabrizio Romano claims, want a minimum of £30 million this month.
Tottenham Hotspur want to sign Roma’s Nicolo Zaniolo
“Zaniolo? This is not a question for me. I’m just a player in the team. I can only say that he is a very talented player,” says Matic, Roma’s ex-Chelsea and Manchester United enforcer.
“For me, it would be good if he stayed here. He’s a great player and he’s important to us. We’ll see.”
A highly-versatile, powerful yet balletic footballer who can play as an attacking midfielder or through the middle as a centre-forward, Zaniolo scored eight goals and set up nine more in 2021/22. He even netted the winner in the UEFA Conference League final victory over Feyenoord; Mourinho labelling one of Italy’s most natural talents an ‘extraordinary’ player after he bounced back from successive cruciate ligament ruptures.
Mourinho, however, remains confident that Zaniolo will still be a Roma player in a fortnight’s time.
“I have my opinion. My sensation is that, come February 1st, he will still be here. I realise Nicolo wants to leave, but that is what I feel,” says the Portuguese, who’s Giallorossi side now sit fourth in the Serie A table.
“He said he wants to leave. But that doesn’t mean he will leave. I say this because he is an important player, and has an important value on the transfer market.
“The offers on the table are unworthy of him or the club. This is why it is my sensation he will be here in February.”
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