After managing to land a permanent deal for Henrikh Mkhitaryan and the free transfer of Pedro, Roma are now working on the next request of manager Paulo Fonseca: bringing Manchester United’s Chris Smalling back to the club.
The Portuguese manager has explicitly requested to Roma CEO Guido Fienga that he wants the Englishman back at the club and that he appreciates his technical abilities.
Il Tempo has reported that Roma owner Dan Friedkin has given Fienga the mandate to reopen talks with the Red Devils to try and bring Smalling back to the Italian capital — a place where he wanted to remain the entire time.
Fonseca plans on moving forward with a three-man defence and considers the Englishman the pillar of his backline.
The hope of the Giallorossi is to close the operation for no more than €16-17 million: they have also entrusted a new intermediary with the negotiations.