Rome Transfer Market: A trade plus 60 million has been proposed for Koné. But Gasperini…

Chelsea has launched a last-minute push for Roma midfielder Manu Koné: the Blues want to close the deal by midnight tonight, when the English summer transfer window closes. It was a race against time that the London club seemed confident they could win: the Premier League side wanted to capitalize on Roma’s need for an attacking winger to facilitate the deal. But they hadn’t reckoned with Gian Piero Gasperini.

According to reports, Chelsea had offered over 60 million euros, plus winger Jamie Gittens—a player the Giallorossi have long been pursuing. This is reported by *La Gazzetta dello Sport*. A substantial offer that, according to the Blues, could have convinced the Rome-based club, which still needs to offload Jamie Leweling’s rejection: Roma had reached an agreement with Stuttgart, but the German forward preferred to stay in the Bundesliga.

With just a few hours left in the transfer window, Roma now finds itself in need of a winger, and Gittens could be the right man for Gasperini: talks with Chelsea in the coming hours will determine the situation. But it was the Giallorossi coach himself who ruled out any possibility of Koné leaving from the outset, as he reiterated at a press conference: “He’s not for sale; no one has mentioned it to me, and the club doesn’t agree.”

According to reports in *La Gazzetta*, Gasperini and D’Amico strongly opposed Chelsea’s offer: the Friedkins, the club’s owners, took note and turned down the Blues. But talks with the English club regarding Gittens remain open: the next few hours will be decisive.