Roma are taking concrete steps forward in their talks with free agent Mats Hummels.
The German defender was recently proposed to the Italian club upon concluding his spell at Borussia Dortmund.
Despite his advanced age, Hummels is coming off a brilliant year in which he led his side to a Champions League final, scoring a decisive goal against PSG in the competition’s semi-final.
Now, Hummels is only interested in finding a new club to join in Europe: options from MLS and Saudi are of no interest to the ex-Bayern Munich defender.
As a result, the player was offered to Milan and Roma.
Out of the two teams, only the Giallorossi showed interest in the 35-year-old centreback.
But first Roma need to sell Smalling, preferably in Saudi Arabia where the Englishman had already drawn interest from a year ago.
Smalling’s agent is already shopping him around and there is increasing optimism that a solution will soon be found.
At that point Roma will close for Hummels: the player is deemed a perfect replacement of Smalling, much more skilled in terms of footwork, building from the back and great at heading the ball on set-pieces.
The salary is affordable: in Germany he earned €3.7 million and could accept less if Roma were to offer him a two-year contract, reports Corriere dello Sport.
