Jose Mourinho cannot guarantee that Nicolo Zaniolo will stay at Roma beyond the transfer deadline, amidst reports of Tottenham’s persistence.
The Italian playmaker is believed to be in contract negotiations with the Serie A club, but that has reportedly not stopped Spurs from continuing their pursuit for him.
Mourinho hugely values the 23-year-old at Roma, where he scored the game-winning goal in last season’s UEFA Conference League final against Feyenoord.
His current contract is set to expire in the summer of 2024, raising concerns that Roma will have to consider offers in the upcoming transfer windows before his value begins to decline.
Spurs have already had a bid rejected for the Italian and according to Daily Express, Roma also waived off a loan offer with an option to buy.
In the pre-match press conference, when asked about Zaniolo, he said (via Football Italia):
“Zaniolo looks very sharp and physically agile, as it’s not easy for a player like him to maintain that intensity for 90 minutes. He deserves the credit for training hard and having the right motivation.
“If he remains or not, that’s a question for the director, not for me. If you ask me, I’d love him to remain, obviously. He is an important player for us, a key piece of the puzzle to bring together all the characteristics of our players.”
Tottenham’s transfer business is not yet over after Conte stated that if players leave this summer they will be replaced. With Tanguy Ndombele and Giovani Lo Celso completing loan deals away from Spurs in the past week, it frees up space for a new signing or two.
And from Jose Mourinho’s comments one can interpret that if Spurs make a worthwhile offer to Roma, they will accept the offer for the Italian playmaker. Looks like the ball is in Tottenham’s court now.
🤣
The one take-out from Saturday’s display is that despite winning the points, we were dreadfully unconvincing and given what happened to Cheatski on the w/e, we’d have to conclude that should have been two points lost, not a point gained.
The dumbest amongst us would surely reason that the lack of a midfield that could transition play has been the key to this: we are basically playing keep-ball with 7 players (all but the front three) and not venturing past the defensive midfield line. We have nothing in the way of box-to-box and so end up pinging long balls to the forwards, which is an uncertain proposition: “we used to call that kick and run when I were a lad….argh!”
The recruitment has been OK and we have strengthened the squad as well as adding a few for tomorrow On this occasions I am inclined to believe that we are looking for players for the future: it may be an each-way bet for Levy, but I am sobered by Harry’s team-sheet showing just how old our squad is moving into the mid term of two to three years hence (and especially our star turns).
What concerns me now is that we seem to be faltering, at least according to the great unwashed of the aggregated gutter gossip brigade. Most of those we are linked with are neither serious star turns to command our midfield, nor are they “for the future” prospects…..they are in-betweeners, journeymen at best.
Now Paratici in concert with Levy’s renowned shenanigans, may well be spitting chaff across the sky to confuse our true intent, I’d expect no less. But there seems to be little to no serious strategy to get what we need, namely a grade ‘A’ centre back and a top quality box-to-box creative midfielder. If Conte is really seriously being backed, we should be expecting to pay @100 million quid on two players.
A decent midfielder is hard: there are a few contenders but the likes of the Ukrainian lad and Zaniola (apparently he was taken off injured in a cart – hay!), are not the players to build a team around.
As for the defenders, we are still waiting: Pau Torres, Skriniar, Gvardiol and of course Bastoni are all still in place, despite the speculations for them to be on the move. Inter we know has two of these either of which would be great for us and we know they are skint and will need to raise funds. So why have we not pursued one of these with same fervour as we have apparently done for the frequently injured Zaniloa?
Maybe there’s still a piece to fall somewhere and then the rest will go like dominos. Maybe there is a deal being done or already done? Maybe Lenglet/Davies is a stop gap for a future deal for one of them post World Cup? We can probably accommodate this especially if we can find a midfielder who can place the pressure forwards onto the opposition instead of backwards onto our back three.
By the time we offload players for real cash (as opposed to reducing our wage bill on subsidised loans), where will we be net spend? I’m sure there’s someone out there with a calculator to work it out. Does our spend include the completion-of-purchase price for Cuti/Culu?
Let’s say it was @$100 mill (when add-ons and bonuses etc are removed), what do we do? Should we pester Inter/Villareal/Leipzig, or cope with what we have? Do we go out and get a top, top midfield powerhouse….. should we choose to do that, who would we look at and what would we need to do to get them? Do we wait to see what the World Cup shows us by way of new stock in the shop window?
I’m asking the question here!
One thing I am certain of, is that the last thing we want to do is go splurge our dosh on someone who is NOT that midfield force, but happens to be “available” and “might” add something: an in-betweeners, a journeymen, a better than nothing (so frequently not the case).
They say that those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it, I somehow think and fear we might (once again) be shy on the history front.
If Dybala’s a rug then Richarlison must seem a carpet to you Cow.
I hope he stays at Leeds ..they looked decent v CFC.
Time to bring in David Dickinson..
If you think it’ll be ok then so be it, I’d spend my money elsewhere. Beside I just watched Zaniola v CreamCheese or some team that just got promoted and he was poor in the first half. Dribbled into dead ends and fell over a lot. Not as much as Dybala though, he spent most of the time on the floor, must have been a rug in a former life. If he stayed on his feet he’d be decent.
Zaniola reminded me of Lamela without his heart. Not for me.
There’s no problem with tearing ligaments, these are common to all footballers. Kane’s torn his ankles more than twice for example… Zaniolo didn’t rupture his ligaments, he only torn them…. A minor amount 5 percent don’t recover from ruptures. But everyone recovers from a tear. They have the best medical staff too so he wasn’t out long … Both tears were back in 2020 nearly three years ago and he’s played regularly as first choice ever since.
If I had to spend £50m I would want to spend it on a player who hadn’t suffered 2 ACL injuries.
ACL injuries aren’t as bad as they were 20 years plus ago.. They are still any athletes nightmare injury because of the recovery time and pain.. But they are not career changing anymore… I ruptured my right ACL and it was the most painful experience… A rupture is worse than a tear. It’s snapped and gone completely.. This used to be career ending, but not anymore.. There’s keyhole surgery now, they cut muscle from your buttocks and create a new ACL and screw it in to place.. 95 per cent of operations get players back to the same strength as before.. The killer is the time.. A whole year until you’re playing again.
JM didn’t play him when he was here… 😑 dammit
This is second only to the Utd and Frenkie De Jong saga. If he were to come I just hope our famed medical team check out those 2 knees of his. 2 ACL injuries is a big issue.
Roma would be Dipsy to take TinkyWinky, absolute LaLa, because he’s Poo..
Newcastle have reportedly made a bid for Jack Harrison, a player that I would love to see at Spurs. He has energy and pace and never gives up. He is also English!
Unless Roma will take WinkyTubby and 20 mil can’t see it happening.