Report: Agent ‘was convinced’ his client would join Tottenham – Didn’t happen

The print edition of Corriere dello Sport (02/02/23 as relayed by Sport Witness) has revealed that Nicolo Zaniolo’s agent, Claudio Vigorelli, was ‘convinced’ he could push through his client’s move to Tottenham in January, which fell through in the end.

It was reported two weeks ago Spurs were edging close to striking an agreement with AS Roma for Zaniolo (90 min) but the deal never materialised, with the North London club snapping up Arnaut Danjuma on loan from Villarreal instead.

The 23-year-old also allegedly attracted interest from both Bournemouth and AC Milan last month (CalcioMercato) but he ended up staying put at the Stadio Olimpico.

Corriere now explain that Zaniolo had previously even agreed to join Spurs during last summer’s transfer window but Roma ‘refused’ a loan offer with an obligation to buy for €40m (£35.6m) along with an additional €10m (£35.6m) ‘in counterparts’.

The publication adds that Giallorossi told the winger at the time that they would offer him a new contract if he stayed but they were unable to meet the player’s salary demands of €4.5m (£4m).

The report adds that Tottenham ‘came forward again’ for Zaniolo two weeks ago and that the attacker’s agent ‘was convinced’ that an initial loan deal could be pushed through. However, Spurs were allegedly unwilling to accept the terms that Roma demanded for Zaniolo.

Spurs Web Opinion 

There is no doubt that Roma will be ruing their decision not to accept Tottenham’s offer for Zainiolo last summer. 

In fact, they probably wish they had accepted Spurs’ rumoured loan offer with a conditional obligation a couple of weeks ago, especially now that the 23-year-old has seemingly been frozen out of Jose Mourinho’s plans.

From a Tottenham perspective, it was always going to be a risky transfer (with a potentially high reward), which is perhaps why the Lilywhites insisted on some clear conditions for the obligation to become active.

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