Roma president James Pallotta says Manchester United will have to pay a “huge” fee to sign Kevin Strootman.
Despite spending €197 million on seven new players, Louis van Gaal still has money to strengthen his squad and defensive midfielder Strootman is one of the players on his shortlist.
The United manager knows Strootman well from his time as Netherlands coach and is interested in signing the 24-year-old once he makes a full recovery from the cruciate ligament injury that ruled him out of the World Cup.
Manager Rudi Garcia said Roma would not sell the player for less than €100 million last year and Pallotta’s comments suggest the club are still holding out for a enormous fee.
“We want to put the best team on the pitch, that’s the most important thing. But we’re businessmen. If someone comes in with a stupid number for a player, you have to listen to it. You can’t just say ‘no, no matter what’,” Pallotta said.
“My view is that I don’t want Kevin to go, for example, but if someone offers a huge amount, you at least have to listen to them. You’re running a team, so you have to look at what’s best for everyone, not just one individual. That’s the way the world works.”
Roma signed Strootman from PSV Eindhoven for €19 million in 2013. The Netherlands international played 25 times for the Italian club last season but he has only started two games this term due to his serious knee injury.
Pallotta also insisted another of his star players, Miralem Pjanic, will not be leaving the club this month despite reported interest from Liverpool.
“The Liverpool thing with Pjanic is the same. We have another four years with him, and we love him,” Pallotta said.
Palermo claim they have rejected interest from United in the 21-year-old striker Paulo Dybala.
But the Italian club’s president, Maurizio Zamparini, says he is willing to talk again in the summer about the Argentinian, who has scored nine goals in 17 appearances this season.
“Dybala is worth over €40m but I won’t sell him until June,” Zamparini told Radio Due. “Many foreign clubs asked after him, including Manchester United. I told the English side that he is not for sale right now, but we can talk about it again in six months. In my view, he is the best striker in Europe at the moment.”
Palermo signed Dybala from the Argentinian club Instituto for €11.5 million in 2012. Afterwards Zamparini described him as “the new Sergio Agüero”.
Bony transfer
Meanwhile, Manchester City have completed the transfer of Swansea striker Wilfried Bony for a €25million fee.
Bony’s move was confirmed by both clubs in synchronised statements on their club websites yesterday, although the Ivory Coast Football Federation had earlier announced the transfer on Twitter.
The 26-year-old is currently on international duty with the Ivory Coast ahead of the African Nations Cup, which starts in Equatorial Guinea this weekend and could prevent his City debut until the middle of next month.
Bony has signed a four-and-a-half year contract at the Etihad Stadium and will wear the number 14 shirt. His fee could rise as high as €36 million. He joins the English champions after scoring 34 goals in 70 appearances for Swansea following his €15.5 million move from Dutch club Vitesse Arnhem in the summer of 2013.
“It’s a great feeling for me, it’s a big honour to be here and it’s a great challenge,” Bony told the official Manchester City website. “As a player it’s always good to be part of one of the biggest clubs in the world and it’s a good opportunity for me to be in that situation now – I’m really proud.
Bony scored 20 Premier League goals in 2014, more than any other player, but promised there is much more to come from him after linking up with his Ivory Coast colleague Yaya Toure at club level.
“I speak with Yaya every day on international duty and I think he will help me to become a better player and a more clinical striker,” Bony said.
“I’ll be playing with great players here at City and this is an opportunity for me to work hard and to take my chance.”
