Italian Serie A side Roma has told both Chelsea and Tottenham that they will have to pay £50 million to have any chance of signing Moroccan international Mehdi Benatia this summer.
The two Premiership sides are said to be interested in the 27-year-old defender while Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini is also looking at him as a possible playing partner for Belgium international Vincent Kompany.
Roma’s sporting director Walter Sabatini however is insisting that their world class defender will not be leaving the Italian capital without a fight, and that nothing short of £50 million will suffice.
‘Benatia is a guy with sound principles – he didn’t want to take a step away from Roma fans or his team-mates,’ Sabatini said.
‘He has been completely coherent; he’s never played for himself, always with and for the team.
‘Personally I think €30m [£25m] is the value of Benatia’s weak foot. If Benatia’s weak foot is worth €30m [£25m] then the total price would be €61m [£50m].
‘Benatia is not for sale, unless someone comes to us with an offer of €61m [£50m].’
