Roma Continues to Press for Davide Frattesi, Could Go As High as €35 Million

The saga continues. Nearly six years to the day after they sold Davide Frattesi as part of a cash + player swap that netted Gregoire Defrel, Roma's almost two-year-long pursuit of the Roman-born midfielder marches on. After coming within a few million of landing Frattesi last summer, only to see his value increase after a seven-goal campaign last season, Roma has fought tooth and nail against every big club Italy has to offer to bring the 23-year-old midfielder back home.

Roma's stiffest competition this time around are the Nerazzurri of Inter Milan, who can offer Frattesi the allure of Champions League football, not to mention a likely higher salary than the capital club can offer. Despite those seemingly long odds, Roma has always had an ace up its sleeve: their 30% sell-on clause, a clever detail included in the original transaction that saw Frattesi move to Sassuolo in 2017.

And according to the Corriere dello Sport, Roma is ready to use that card to their advantage. With Inter Milan focused on retaining Romelu Lukaku, Roma GM Tiago Pinto is reportedly preparing one final push for Frattesi; a €30 million package, which, when their 30% sell-on fee is deducted, amounts to a €21 million cash offer.

However, the CdS believes that Sassuolo value Frattesi at some €35 to €40 million, meaning Roma would still have to up the ante, which could be done with €10 million cash-on-the-barrel (for an initial one-year loan) plus an €11 million obligation and approximately €3.5 million in bonuses. After Roma's 30% cut is factored in, that would bring the total value of the package to approximately €35 million.

Whether or not that's enough to forestall Inter's advances, we can't say. Still, if Frattesi truly wants to return to Roma, and if Inter is really that distracted by other business, then Roma may finally get their man.

We say this all the time, but you'll definitely want to stay tuned on this one.