Milan and Roma to compete for Manu Kone; Soumare and Rabiot involved in midfield domino effect | OneFootball

Serie A giants Milan and Roma are set to compete for high-in-demand Manu Kone of Borussia Monchengladbach. However, both sides have other options in mind within this midfield domino affair.

MilanNews reports that as it stands, the pair of Italian clubs are prepared to submit a bid of €15m in transfer fees. However, the Bundesliga outfits request a figure closer to €20m as the sale of the promising midfielder would trigger sell-on fees that would go directly towards Kone’s previous club Toulouse.

As it stands, Roma are currently in the stronger economic position to seal the transfer as the additional cash-flow from the Abraham-Saelemaekers swap deal involving the Rossonerri, as well as the potential sale of academy graduate Edoardo Bove to Premier League side Nottingham Forrest, would enable the Giallorossi to easily meet the demands of the German giants.

In the event that Roma are unable to sign Kone, the capital club will shift their focus on Boubakary Soumare of Leicester City, a central midfielder coach Daniele De Rossi is fond on as the capital club have been monitoring his situation throughout the summer market.

On the other hand, despite a personal agreement being reached with the Frenchman expected to be easy-going as Kone’s agent is the same as shot-stopper Mike Maignan, the Milanese club would have to sell Algerian international Ismael Bennacer to make room from a financial point of view.

There was an interest from Saudi side Al-Qadisiyah for the 26-year-old, however the club no longer has the club no longer has a roster spot for players older than 21-years-old as per the regulations of the league providing only eight slots.

Another possible route Milan could take to reinforce their midfield is reportedly deemed the primary choice is former Juventus midfielder Adrien Rabiot, as per La Gazzetta dello Sport.

Whilst the Frenchman would easily be convinced by the Milan project given that they are in European football and competitive within the Serie A, the wages would certainly be lucrative as Rabiot’s mother and agent Veronique is known to not hand discounts. Prior to deciding to not renew with the Bianconeri before becoming a free agent, the France international was earning €7.5m per-season.

Hence, the Rossonerri would most certainly need to offload Bennacer, whom currently earns €4m per-season, in order to free up financial space in order to provide coach Paulo Fonseca with a boost in the midfield.

Julian Faustini Ι GIFN