Manuel Pellegrini may be set for a disappointing summer, as Calciomercato have reported that Edin Dzeko is ready to ignore the Hammers’ interest in favour of a move to Inter Milan.
The veteran striker is almost guaranteed to be on his way out of AS Roma at the end of the season, and has been heavily linked with a reunion with the boss at the London Stadium, following their Premier League winning stint together in Manchester.
There have even been reports that the Giallorossi have offered the 33-year-old to us, as the Stadio Olimpico natives look to raise funds for the upcoming window, although how much they are asking for remains to be seen.
Italian publications have somewhat variated on the matter, with claims of a €25million (£21.6m) baseline now understood to be invalid. Instead, Roma may look to cash-in on the Bosnia-Herzegovina captain for €15million (£12.9m) – just €5m (£4.3m) more than they have allegedly already rejected.
Calciomercato have even noted that the lower figure has appealed to the decision makers at the London Stadium a lot more than Roma’s original valuation – given his age and that he is entering the final year of his contract – and are willing to close the deal as soon as possible, which Inter are not.
The Nerazzurri are still deliberating over the future of their Argentine forward Mauro Icardi, and are not yet convinced Dzeko would be a worthwhile purchase at €15m, having scored eight goals in the Serie A from 27 appearances this term.
Dzeko, though, is keen on a switch from yellow and red to black and blue, as he wishes to continue competing in the Champions League, and that could leave our efforts dead in the water.
The 101-cap international is even willing to take a drastic pay cut to move from the Italian capital to the fashion capital of the world, and would accept a €4.5million-a-year deal – at present, Dzeko banks €6m-a-year, and we reportedly offered €5m-per-season, which breaks down to £83k-a-week.
If the latest update coming out of Italy is the most accurate, it would be a shame that we recently concluded our interest in Fortuna Dusseldorf’s Benito Raman, who could be on his way to either Arsenal or Everton for €15m.
