Roma midfielder Lorenzo Pellegrini has allegedly told Jose Mourinho that he plans to sign a new contract with the club after reported interest from Tottenham over the summer.
Spurs’ director of football Fabio Paratici reportedly placed the 25-year-old on his list of targets over the summer and was keen to make a move to bring the midfielder to North London.
Gazetta dello Sport also reported that Nuno Espirito Santo’s side were weighing up a deal to acquire Pellegrini over the summer.
However, the club were said to be not keen on fulfilling his €30 million (£25.8m) release clause and eventually decided to abandon their pursuit of the Italian.
As such, Roma are now looking to negotiate a new deal until 2025 with Pellegrini, to alter and potentially remove the release clause altogether.
Current Roma manager and former Spurs boss Mourinho has since revealed that the midfielder has told him a new contract with the club is being negotiated.
Mourinho said: “He is a player with quality, a great deal of potential and he told me yesterday that he’ll sign the new contract soon.
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“I think it can definitively give more strength to this rapport he is building with the fans. Pellegrini is the captain, he will sign a new contract and is very important for us.”
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If Paratici admired Pellegrini that much, then he would have pushed a little bit more to get a deal over the line this summer, especially with that modest release clause.
Spurs will have to shelve plans to sign Pellegrini in the future now, though, with a new contract at Roma seemingly in good progress.
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