’48 hours to go’ – Roma director provides honest Zaniolo update amid Spurs links

AS Roma sporting director Tiago Pinto has admitted that the Serie A club are trying to offload Tottenham target Nicolo Zaniolo before the transfer window closes tomorrow evening.

Reports over the past week have suggested that despite their acquisition of Arnaut Danjuma on loan from Villarreal, Spurs have still not given up on their pursuit of Zaniolo (Gazzetta dello Sport 25/01/23 via Sport Witness).

Nicolo Zaniolo
(Photo by Massimo Insabato/Archivio Massimo Insabato/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images)

CalcioMercato reported last Thursday that Bournemouth had submitted a bid for the 23-year-old but he turned down the offer as he wanted to join a ‘top club’.

This was also backed up the very next day by Fabrizio Romano, who revealed that representatives from the Cherries had even travelled to the Italian capital to convince Zaniolo but the player only wanted to join AC Milan or Tottenham.

Jose Mourinho appeared to close the door on the possibility of the Italy international returning to his starting eleven, stating after his side’s loss against Napoli yesterday that he only wants players who want to play for the club (Gazzetta).

Pinto has now admitted that the Serie A club are facing a ‘difficult’ situation and are trying to offload the winger before tomorrow’s deadline.

When asked about Zaniolo’s situation, the Roma sporting director told DAZN (29/01/23 as relayed by Football Italia): “I have no problem answering that question, now everyone knows what happened. 

“Nicolo asked the club to leave, along with his agent we tried in every way to find a solution, this solution arrived and Nicolo was not be very happy with the solution.

“We’re all in a difficult situation now, because he put in the transfer request and with all the Financial Fair Play parameters we have around us, we cannot afford to just accept Zaniolo saying no and us signing a replacement.

“There are 48 hours to go in the transfer window, we’ll see what happens, but it is truly a difficult situation for the club and everyone.”

Spurs Web Opinion

If Tottenham were to offload both Gil and Moura (which is a big ‘if’, particularly with the Brazilian), I can see us testing the waters with a late offer for Zaniolo.  However, with time now running out fast, it appears quite unlucky. I suspect that the Roma star will end up completing a move to Milan before tomorrow’s deadline.

Keep up to date with all the latest Tottenham news and opinion by following SpursWeb’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.

Related Topics

Have something to tell us about this article? Let us know