Roma's Dzeko Deal with Manchester City Dead

Well, it looks as though Walter Sabatini put on his best dad jeans and headed to the airport for nothing. What once looked like a sure thing, a bargain even, is now dead in the water. Rather than ceding to Roma's €15m lowball offer for Edin Dzeko, Manchester City have reportedly held firm in their desire to get not €20 million, but £20 million, or roughly double what Walter was serving up.

Even with an elaborate payment schedule reportedly on the table, a deal could not be struck, per Football Italia via Tuttomercatoweb

Roma are hoping to take the Bosnian international on loan with option to buy for €15m (£10.6m).

Instead, Manchester City are asking for €28m (£20m) for the 29-year-old striker.

Tuttomercatoweb claim the Premier League giants are prepared to spread out the payment over two years, receiving €21m (£15m) straight away plus another €7m (£5m) next year.

I wouldn't say this necessarily means the deal is done and gone, however, (Dzeko could dig in his heels and cause a ruckus) but it looks like Walter will have to put on his best negotiating/smoking jacket to even find a middle ground for the object of his affection. But this is what we warned of last week; Roma's entire transfer campaign revolved around Dzeko, so now that he is apparently out of the picture, what happens?

Well, Sabatini is apparently reaching into his old bag of tricks, raiding mother Russia.

Now that #DaretoDzeko has run into a spot of trouble, Roma have reportedly turned their attention to Zenit forward Jose Salomon Rondon, a forward from the Russian Super League with a strong scoring record in Europe....sound familiar? Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it is an adage with which Sabatini is not familiar.

In the tale of Dzeko or bust, it looks like Roma have come up bust. Time to start scrambling.