AFC Bournemouth were one of the clubs linked with taking Nicolò Zaniolo from AS Roma in the winter market.
The Cherries saw their bid accepted by the Serie A side but were not able to convince the winger immediately.
His initial reluctance to join Bournemouth saw them sign Hamed Junior Traorè from Sassuolo on the last day of the January window.
Recent claims had stated Gary O’Neil’s side had offered a €5m per year deal to convince the Italy international to join them. Corriere dello Sport interviewed his mother, Francesca Costa, and she was directly asked why her son initially rejected the approach made by Bournemouth.
“I want to clarify one aspect: Nicolò would have reduced his salary, or would have asked for the same money as Roma, for Milan or Tottenham. But those clubs have not found an agreement with the Giallorossi club. At that point there was Bournemouth: it’s not true that they offered us €5m a season,” she said.
“I have been in football for some time, my husband was also a footballer: negotiations are made by agents. And in fact, my son’s representative met them,” Costa explained.
Zaniolo changed his mind and then agreed to join Bournemouth, but the deal didn’t take shape because the English club had signed Traorè.
“That’s true [first he said no and then yes], but when we called them back, they had already taken another one [player],” Costa concluded.
Zaniolo left Roma and completed a permanent move to Galatasaray earlier this month.
