Roma president James Pallotta says Manchester United will have to pay a “huge” fee to sign Kevin Strootman while Palermo patron Maurizio Zamparini revealed he a turned down Manchester Uniteda offers for Paulo Dybala.
Roma president James Pallotta has admitted that he would be forced to listen to offers for Kevin Strootman if a big-money bid came in for the Dutch midfielder. The Netherlands international has been a reported target for Manchester United and the Giallorossi chief said that he would entertain offers for the highly-rated Strootman. Roma have already seen Erik Lamela and Marquinhos lured away by attractive offers, it’s understandable that the incessant reports linking the Lupi’s star midfielders, Strootman and Pjanic, with moves abroad grate a little on Pallotta, even if he knows that’s how the business works. He told Bleacher Report: “I do get annoyed,” he admits. “I think the papers have finally given up on the Strootman thing, because Kevin’s come out and addressed it, saying he likes it in Italy and he has a five-year contract. And by the way, I wasn’t going to sell him anyway!”
“The Liverpool thing with Pjanic is the same. We have another four years with him, and we love him.”
“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. 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.”
Meanwhile, Palermo have turned down Manchester United offers for Paulo Dybala and rate the Argentine at over a 40m. The 21-year-old has scored nine Serie A goals and provided seven assists in 17 games this season, attracting interest from the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool.
“Dybala is worth over a 40m, but I wona t sell him until June,” President Maurizio 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 invested heavily in Dybala, signing him from Argentine club Instituto for a 12m when he was just 18 in 2012. Afterwards Zamparini described him as “the new Sergio AgA?ero”.He is now valued at over a 40m (A?31m) by the Sicilian club, whose previous players include Edinson Cavani and Javier Pastore.