What could have been a dream move by Leicester City of England attacker, Kelechi Iheanacho to AS Roma of Italy has been scuttled by a shock call by the Italian Serie A club’s coach, Jose Mourinho to Chelsea’s Tammy Abraham.
Megasportsarena.com gathered that, while speculation arose on Friday that Roma could move for Iheanacho if they were unable to snatch Abraham from Stamford Bridge, Chelsea’s former coach has stopped that from happening.
In showing that he prefers a reunion with Abraham, who he previously handled during their time together at Chelsea,, Mourinho decided to personally wade in and pave the way for a deal to happen anytime soon.
This comes at a point latest reports out of Italy indicated that Roma have now made the highest bid for Abraham so far this summer, as the England international is up for sale at Chelsea and the European champions are seeking €50m on his signature.
Fellow-London-based EPL rivals, Arsenal, Aston Villa and West Ham United have earlier been linked with Abraham, but an updated report by French publication, Le 10 Sport has now revealed that the biggest offer of €45m is coming from Roma.
The report added that Roma’s move for Abraham is being spurred Mourinho, who saw the tall lad grow through Chelsea’s academy when he was in charge of The Blues, such that ‘The Special One’ is now keen on them getting a reunion in Rome.
The latest development has effectively put a spanner in the wheel of links Iheanacho might have with the former club of Umar Sadiq and Nura Abdullahi, as Roma are now a step closer to signing Abraham.
Mourinho has been keen on bringing the 23-year-old Abraham to Stadio Olimpico and he has waded in decisively to lure over the lanky lad, who is also said to be attracting interest from Arsenal of England and Atalanta of Italy.
A report by Italian publication, La Repubblica added: “There has been a breakthrough in discussions after Abraham spoke to Roma boss Mourinho.
“It was previously reported that Roma had offered Abraham the No 9 shirt, regular playing time and a £4m salary.
“It’s now said that the club are willing to offer him a salary worth just over £5m in their efforts to get him ignore Arsenal’s interest.
“Director Tiago Pinto is in London after face-to-face negotiations with Abraham, who spoke to Roma manager Mourinho also over the phone.
“Chelsea have already reportedly accepted Roma’s offer of £34million for striker Abraham – but have included a buy-back clause as part of the deal.”
An additional report by Sky Sports confirmed further that Roma are determined to convince Abraham to sign for them, having already agreed a £34million deal with Chelsea for the 23-year-old England international.
While Abraham asked for time to think about the offer, Roma quickly dispatched their general manager, Tiago Pinto to meet the striker for talks in London and a source close to the move said: “Talks are ongoing. It’s not easy but there’s a strong determination from Roma’s side.”
