Roma Interested in Samir Nasri?

The sale of Miralem Pjanic to Juventus was noteworthy for several reasons: it represented a capitulation sorts—of Roma relinquishing one of their finest players to their most bitter rival—and the end of what seemed like a perfect marriage between player and club, but it’s had a somewhat strange effect on Roma’s transfer campaign.

While all common sense and good reason would suggest the club would look for an immediate like-for-like replacement, we’ve been waylaid by a myriad of rumors revolving around central defenders and strikers, we’ve seen nary an attacking midfielder connected to the Giallorossi—in the context of this argument, we’ll consider Leandro Paredes a separate and unrelated entity.

With opening day bearing down upon them, Roma are revisiting a tired trope; plumbing the depths of the Premier League for a once good-to-great player. You’re no doubt familiar with the illustrious names on that list—Edin Dzeko, Ashley Cole and Gabriel Heinze among others—but Roma are once again testing this track, as they’re reportedly weighing a move for Manchester City midfielder and 2011 it kid, Samir Nasri.

Nasri, who was once one of the Premiership’s most complete midfielders, has fallen by the wayside with City, garnering only 22 league starts the past two seasons, though some of that is due to injury, in all fairness. Things have gotten so dire for Nasri that new Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola has signed him up for fat camp, banishing Nasri to the gym to cut a few kilos before he’s allowed to take the practice pitch.

For the luxury of taking on an over the hill midfielder, Roma are prepared to pay €15 million on a loan with an option to buy deal; the very same deal Roma bargained with City last summer for Edin Dzeko, and we all know how well that worked out, don’t we?

Nasri may prove helpful in small doses, but is this really the sort of move to put Roma over the top?