Rome Transfer Market: Luis Henrique Stands His Ground; Inter Is Also Wondering

The Luis Henrique deal, which has brought representatives from Inter and Roma to the negotiating table, is far from finalized, even though the two clubs have reached a preliminary agreement for a transfer fee of 28 million euros.

One piece of the puzzle is still missing, as the Brazilian—formerly of Botafogo and Olympique de Marseille—has set his salary demands too high: The 2001-born player from João Pessoa isn’t convinced he wants to leave Milan after just one season, even though he would get Champions League playing time with Gian Piero Gasperini’s Giallorossi.

Gasperini values Luis Henrique above all for his tactical versatility: the Brazilian can play both as a winger and as an attacking midfielder, qualities that make him particularly well-suited to the Giallorossi coach’s style of play. This versatility convinced Roma to push hard for the deal, so much so that in recent weeks, talks had intensified after an initial phase in which the Roman club had made only an exploratory inquiry.

For its part, Inter had initially set the transfer fee at 30 million euros, only to lower it to 28 million in the preliminary agreement reached with the Giallorossi. The Nerazzurri, after all, have already planned how to reinvest the proceeds: Beppe Marotta is nearing a deal for Tottenham’s Djed Spence, a right-back born in 2000 who is expected to move to Milan for approximately 30 million euros and take over from Denzel Dumfries, who joined Real Madrid last July.

The sale of Luis Henrique would only exacerbate the Nerazzurri’s needs on the wing, as coach Cristian Chivu himself had already made clear in recent weeks: “We have three wingers now—actually, three and a half, because Carlos could play there. I prefer him as a third man, though. And depending on how we view Luis Henrique—whether on the right or the left—we’re still missing one. The transfer window is still open for a while; we need to be patient and choose wisely.” These words accurately capture the delicate nature of the situation at Inter, where every transfer move is closely intertwined with the others.