Journalist explains why he expects Tottenham’s move for 23-year-old to fail

Sky Sports reporter Dharmesh Sheth has said that while Tottenham retain an interest in Nicolo Zaniolo, the Premier League club are not prepared to meet AS Roma’s demands for the attacker.

Despite Tottenham strengthening their forward line with the signing of Arnaut Danjuma on loan from Villarreal last week, the speculation linking Zaniolo with a move to Spurs has not dissipated (Gazzetta dello Sport via Sport Witness).

Fabrizio Romano revealed last Friday that representatives from Bournemouth had flown to Rome to convince the 23-year-old to make the switch to the Vitality Stadium after their offer was accepted by the Giallorossi.

However, he explained that Zaniolo refused the move and continued to hope for a switch to either Tottenham or AC Milan.

Jose Mourinho seemingly dismissed the possibility of reintegrating the Italy international into his plans after Roma’s loss to Napoli on Sunday, with the Portuguese coach stating that he does not want any player who doesn’t want to play for the club (Gazzetta dello Sport).

Meanwhile, Roma’s sporting director Tiago Pinto has admitted that the Serie A club are in a difficult situation with Zaniolo and are trying to find a solution before tomorrow’s deadline (DAZN via Football Italia).

Sheth has now revealed that there remains a considerable distance between the Serie A club and Tottenham’s valuation of the attacker.

When asked about Spurs’ pursuit of Zaniolo, he told GiveMeSport: “I think they like the player, but I just don’t think they want to do the deal that Roma would want to do.

“They want the €30 million in a permanent deal, whereas I think Tottenham want, ideally, a loan with an option that becomes an obligation. Roma aren’t interested in that.”

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One would expect Roma to soften their transfer stance, given that it is in their interest to offload Zaniolo before tomorrow’s deadline. I can see Tottenham testing the waters with a late offer for the 23-year-old if Lucas Moura follows Bryan Gil out of the door, which while unlikely, is not impossible.

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