Roma send message to Chelsea over deadline-day Manu Kone transfer

Roma manager Gian Piero Gasperini appears to have ruled out a deadline-day transfer move for Manu Kone amid speculation linking the midfielder with Chelsea.

Kone was added to Chelsea’s shortlist of would-be replacements for Enzo Fernandez this summer, with the Argentina international pushing to join former manager Enzo Maresca at Manchester City.

Monaco’s Lamine Camara and Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White are also being linked as possible additions at Stamford Bridge in the event that City meet Chelsea’s £120million asking price for Fernandez.

But time is rapidly running out for City to do business with their Premier League rivals – and whether Fernandes stays put or moves on is likely to have major ramifications elsewhere in the transfer market.

French publication Foot Mercato reported on Monday that Chelsea had opened discussions with Kone’s representatives to gauge if a deal might be realistic for the 25-year-old Roma star.

It was claimed Kone had emerged as the Blues’ ‘top priority’. However, Roma were said to have ‘no intention’ of parting ways with the France international and the Serie A giants had – at that stage – received no bids from potential suitors.

Roma boss Gasperini has since confirmed this to be the case, suggesting had been little truth to Chelsea’s supposed pursuit while blaming the media for circulating the incessant rumours.

‘Absolutely not, it is a media thing. I know nothing about it,’ he told reporters.

‘I also know the owners do not want to sell.

‘I don’t know who approached us, but we have not received any formal offers for him.’

Gasperini stressed that it was in Roma’s best interests to strengthen their squad rather than cash in on the likes of Kone at the start of the new season.

‘At this moment, our rivals are reinforcing, with Inter Milan in a strong position, but also Como are no longer a surprise, then Napoli, AC Milan and Juventus,’ he added.

‘We’ve got to try to complete our squad so that we don’t run into problems, especially now we’re in the Champions League and need more options available.’

The 68-year-old reassured Roma fans that the club were still exploring ways to bolster his squad while the transfer window remained over for business, with VfB Stuttgart’s Jamie Leweling and Zenit’s Luiz Henrique both linked.

‘I hope there will be more signings, the club is doing its best. But there clearly isn’t a lot of time left,’ Gasperini continued.

‘It is an anomaly playing with the transfer window still open, and I continue to maintain that the schedule is madness.’

Facing the media after Chelsea’s 4-3 victory over Brighton on Sunday, Xabi Alonso tried to reassure fans he would have a ‘good enough squad’ at his disposal for the season ahead, irrespective of what the future holds for Fernandez.

‘We are preparing for all scenarios,’ the Chelsea manager said when asked for an update on Fernandez’s situation at his post-match press conference.

‘I can promise you that, whatever happens, from Wednesday, we will have a good enough squad to compete in all the Premier League games.’

Chelsea smashed their transfer record to sign Morgan Rogers from Aston Villa in a £117m move last month – surpassing the £107m fee they spent to capture Fernandez from Benfica back in 2023.

The Blues have also added Maxence Lacroix, Marco Palestra, Geovany Quenda, Valentin Barco, Emmanuel Emegha, Pep Chavarria, Emiliano Martinez, Danny Welbeck and Jordan Henderson to Alonso’s squad in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, Andrey Santos, Nicolas Jackson, Marc Cucurella, Liam Delap, Trevoh Chalobah and Tyrique George brought their respective spells to an end across what has been a summer of major change and upheaval in west London.

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