Having already signed Ainsley Maitland-Niles on loan for the rest of the season, AS Roma were thinking about pulling off a second deal with Arsenal before the end of the transfer window.
That was for Granit Xhaka, who came close to a move to Italy last summer, only for that to never happen and for him to sign a new contract with the Gunners.
What followed has been a mixed bag for the Swiss midfielder, who still cannot win over the Emirates faithful, which led to stories of a move in January taking place.
However, both Gazzetta dello Sport and Il Messaggero are sure this will be postponed until the summer now, with the idea of returning for Xhaka once the season is done.
Starting with the former of the two, it’s made clear the idea from Roma would be to bring up a deal for the Switzerland international when they ‘return to the table with Arsenal to deal with the situation relating to Maitland-Niles’.
The idea here would be that a ‘maxi-operation could also be set up that includes both players to the Giallorossi and perhaps a ‘discount’ from the Gunners on the entire package’.
Xhaka, in the eyes of Arsenal, would still cost around €20m, which is around double what they could pay for Maitland-Niles, ‘but if Roma were to take both of them, they would probably be able to snatch even better global conditions, both in terms of price and means of payment’.
As for Il Messaggero, they echo some of these sentiments, believing a move for the regista ‘will have to be postponed to the summer’, when they will ‘return to the charge’ for him.
