Mehdi Benatia

[pavelsrnicek]

Feel like this will get done eventually but sabbatini(sp) had a press conference tomorrow morning and he'll speak on this. Some roma fans have said that if he says they aren't selling than they aren't selling regardless of benatias comments

This may be a little brinkmanship by Roma. Telling us to make a decent offer asap or we promise our fans he's not being sold and then everything gets difficult. If at the press conference they are cagey on Benatia you can assume he is being sold either to us or someone else.

 

[Walt Disney]

Benatia after his meeting with Roma said "I'll stay in Rome, do not worry

 

[Llandegren]

Assuming no player sales and no major player departures, we can spend up to 49 million:

Fernando, DM (12 million)
Sagna, RB (free)
Willy Caballero, GK (4-6 million)

That's 16-18 million on 3 players we need. That still means we can spend 31 million on a CB, so signing Benatia should not be a problem financially given that Roma want something close to 28.5 (according to rumors).

Then take into account what we will certainly get from player sales. Optimistically, we are looking at:
Richards 6-8 million
Guidetti 3-5 million
Sinclair 2-3 million
Garcia 8-10 million

which is roughly close to 20-25 million that can also be added to that budget.

So, I don't think we should be worried from a financial point of view of Chelsea blowing us out of the water.

I'd say Rodwell is closer to leaving than Garcia. AND with the wages that comes in from players like Barry, Lescott and Costel we will have a lot of plus to lay on salaries for incoming players.

 

[MCFCUSA]

Just seen this on that Roma Forum, if true it doesn't look good for us.

<a class="postlink" href="http://romapress.us/?p=4495" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://romapress.us/?p=4495</a>

BENATIA ARRIVES AT TRIGORIA
Roma centerback Mehdi Benatia, who has been at the center of transfer speculation since proclaiming last week that he hasn’t agreed to a new contract with the Giallorossi, has arrived at Trigoria this afternoon for talks with Walter Sabatini.


Before entering Trigoria, Benatia said to awaiting media members, “I’ll stay in Rome, do not worry.”

 

[LoveCity]

<a class="postlink" href="http://romapress.us/?p=4495" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://romapress.us/?p=4495</a>

Roma centerback Mehdi Benatia, who has been at the center of transfer speculation since proclaiming last week that he hasn’t agreed to a new contract with the Giallorossi, has arrived at Trigoria this afternoon for talks with Walter Sabatini.

Before entering Trigoria, Benatia said to awaiting media members, “I’ll stay in Rome, do not worry.”

 

[Ray78]

Next!

 

[Forzacitizens]

Oh dear; back to mangala?

 

[cmdub]

Oh dear; back to mangala?

Pretty sure that ship has sailed. I'd imagine it's onto our 3rd choice CB who as far as I can tell hasn't been mentioned yet.

 

[MeatHunterrr]

What about Inigo Martinez? Has to be our C or D plan atleast?

 

[LoveCity]

Garay has a £16.5m release clause and still hasn't left Benfica.

But I'm not sure this is over yet. Italian clubs will always sell if the price is right, let's see how high City are willing to go.