AS Roma have told Manchester City that they will need to pay over £100m if they want to sign midfielder Daniele de Rossi.
De Rossi has been strongly linked with a move to Man City for the last twelve months, and Roma’s sporting director Walter Sabatini has confirmed that the club would be willing to accept offers for their star player but they are holding out for a massive fee.
When asked by reporters if clubs would need to spend more than the £100m that Napoli want for their star forward Edinson Cavani, Sabatini said:
“The figure for De Rossi is higher than these you just named.
“De Rossi is a leader for us and therefore we never considered selling De Rossi, naturally.
“I merely pointed out that in all of football, not just De Rossi or our particular situation, when a crazy offer comes in then we will listen and evaluate.
“But we are not looking for anyone to buy De Rossi, because he is extraordinarily important for us, a player who is irreplaceable and so it would be difficult to even look at an ‘indecent proposal.”
Obviously £100m would smash the world record for a transfer fee, currently held by Cristiano Ronaldo at a mere £80m.
There is no doubt that Rossi is a terrific player, but £100m is silly money. Even £50m is a lot of money to pay for someone who is already 29.