Roma May Use Destro to Secure Mohamed Salah From Chelsea

Besides his admiration for Edin Dzeko, there are two things we know for certain about Rudi Garcia: he loves wingers and he hates Mattia Destro. Incidentally, whatever happened to his affinity for mock neck sweaters? Talk about a disappointment. In any event, if you trace back all the rumors generated since Garcia came to town, I'd wager at least 30-40% of them revolved around wingers, and the latest name on that list is Mohamed Salah, the subject of one of the strangest transfer sagas you'll ever encounter, one that is about to get a lot weirder.

Salah, who spent last season with Fiorentina on loan from Chelsea, has been the subject of much strife between the two clubs:

The sticking point remains the fact that Fiorentina believe Salah's power of veto for the deal was a private agreement and not part of the original contract signed by the Egyptian, and therefore is not recognised by Serie A. They also argue that Salah did not state that he did not want to continue with the loan until after the deadline had passed, and after Fiorentina had paid the required €1million to Chelsea in order to extend the loan. The Blues assert that the veto clause was part of the initial contract and is recognized by UEFA.

The path of least resistance for Chelsea seems to be placating the Viola with another loanee, which, the latest rumors suggest, could be our very own Mattia Destro...sort of. With Salah reportedly giving the all-clear for a Roma switch, Big Walt has started talks with Chelsea over the Egyptian winger, hoping for a similar loan-with-an-option-to-buy deal they brokered with Fiorentina last season.

However, according to Football Italia and Sky Sport Italia, Chelsea have reportedly insisted that Destro moves the other way in this deal, landing with the London giants, who, in an effort to avoid legal action from Florence, may or may not loan Mr. Right to Fiorentina, thereby granting Destro's wish to remain in Italy.

Of course, this all presupposes that Roma will actually purchase rather than borrow Salah from Chelsea, but as we all know Roma's standard operating procedure is to take players on loan, let them flounder, then overpay for them...duh.

Seriously, can't this club ever get involved in a straightforward transfer? Why must they make everything so difficult?