Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte and director of football Fabio Paratici are still interested in bringing AS Roma and Italy attacker Nicolò Zaniolo to the club this season.
That is according to journalist Pete O’Rourke, who was speaking to GiveMeSport about the latest news from Hotspur Way as the club head into the final few weeks of the transfer window.
According to 90min, Roma manager Jose Mourinho is doing his best to block the Premier League side’s move for Zaniolo, who scored the winner for the former Spurs manager’s side in the Europa Conference League final last season.
However, the report goes on to say that the club from the Italian capital are prepared to let the 23-year-old leave the Stadio Olimpico this season if their valuation of around £42m can be met.
And O’Rourke believes that the Italian connection between Zaniolo, Conte and Paratici could play a big part in whether the Roma man makes the move to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this summer.
He said: “Yeah, obviously [the Italian connection with Conte and Paratici] will play a big part in his decision.
“If he wants to move to Spurs there’s the whole Italian connection.
“Fabio Paratici and Antonio Conte are both there, they’re both pushing to get this deal done as well.”
TIF Thoughts on O’Rourke’s comments…
We believe that the signing of Zaniolo, who was called a ‘prominent‘ player by former Liverpool man Momo Sissoko, would come as a boost to Conte’s hopes of success both domestically and in the Champions League this season.
The nine-time Italy international has demonstrated an ability to play in midfield and anywhere across the frontline throughout his career according to Transfermarkt, suggesting that he would be an extremely useful addition in terms of squad depth for the north London club this season.
Therefore, we believe that a £42m investment in Zaniolo would be extremely smart both from a first-team and squad depth perspective for the club, with his addition likely to help Conte in his job of balancing domestic and European football this season.