Every time José Mourinho talks about what his team is missing, one of the first things he mentions is the role of the regista.
Wanting someone to dictate the game from a deeper position, the Portuguese manager had targeted Granit Xhaka as soon as he took over at the Serie A side, and Tiago Pinto duly tried his best to sign the Swiss.
However, Arsenal stood firm, refused to negotiate their asking price and eventually held onto the midfielder, who then signed a new contract.
What followed at the Gunners was much of the same for the player, unable to win over the Emirates faithful, and thus rekindling the idea that AS Roma could make a move for him and that he’d happily team up with Mourinho in Italy.
Corriere dello Sport look at that possibility again, making it clear the player remains ‘the first name’ on Pinto’s notebook, regardless of the fact Sergio Oliveira was signed on loan from FC Porto.
They see Xhaka as ‘on the way out’ at Arsenal, and the good relationship between the clubs following the successful deal for Ainsley Maitland-Niles could help in the coming months.
We’ll have to see if talks open up soon, but the previous feeling was that AS Roma, when negotiating the price tag for the right-back, would bring up the situation of the midfielder at the same time.
Time will tell…
