Zenit Planning €70M Swoop for Manolas and Paredes

For those of you with eyes for Lovely Leo, today is your lucky day, as Leandro Paredes has been front and center on the ol’ Roma rumor mill today. Earlier this afternoon we discussed Borussia Dortmund’s supposed interest in the young Argentine, as they were reportedly weighing up a €25 million move for Roma’s young midfielder. Well, even if that rumor did hold weight, it seems like Zenit St Petersburg may be leaving their German counterparts in the dust.

Combing two of this week’s rumors, it seems as though the Russian giants, previously thought to be inches away from signing Manolas in a €35 million(ish), are looking for a double coupon deal, throwing Paredes into their cart along with the Greek defender.

While €35 to €40 million price tag for Manolas seems agreed upon, Sky Italia reports that Zenit is looking to double their offer to bring Paredes into the fold, with Paredes reportedly giving the move the all clear, beating not only Dortmund to the punch, but also Juventus and even Liverpool.

If this move does indeed come to fruition, Monchi would have lined James Pallotta’s pockets with roughly €120 million in a matter of days, music to the Bostonian’s ears no doubt. While that’s all well and good, it would leave Roma with a couple gaping holes in their rotation, with no immediate replacements yet in tow.

We’ll wait and see how this one plays out, but if it resembles this week’s Salah move, we may be chewing on this one for a couple weeks. Manolas and Paredes are two of Roma’s more popular players, at least around these parts, so this may be a bitter pill for many of us to swallow.

So, much like fans of the Philadelphia 76ers, we have no choice but to trust the process.