Whenever there’s a deal potentially involving AS Roma and Tottenham, one man is always mentioned: Franco Baldini.
Once the technical director at the Premier League side, the Italian then left to become an advisor of now AS Roma owner James Pallotta.
He’s never really had an official role since his return to the Serie A side, but he’s always there to lend a hand when needed, and then need one now.
The reason for this is Jan Vertonghen, who is seen as one of the options to replace Chris Smalling if he returns to Manchester United.
With that looking to be the case, there is now a difficult task at hand, which is to convince the Belgium international that moving to Italy’s capital will be what’s best for him.
That’s why it isn’t really surprising to see Corriere dello Sport report on Tuesday that Baldini is currently ‘collaborating’ with Roma’s director of football, Gianluca Petrachi, to sweet talk Vertonghen into making the move.
He’s said to be ahead of Dejan Lovren in the list of potential successors for Smalling’s role, as he’d be free, and with the former Tottenham director on their side, perhaps the odds will be more in their favour.
