Emerson and Dzeko Delays Creating Maze of Roma Transfer Rumors

Transfer dealings are never a cut and dry affair. You have the player’s wishes, the agent’s financial interest and the club’s desire to get the best price all commingling in an awkward stew. That delicious, slow cooked meal can turn sour when any one of those interested parties drags their feet, turning the whole mess into something even a dog wouldn’t give a second look.

In this particular instance, the sumptuous morsels of beef and the hearty potatoes are Roma stalwart Edin Dzeko and up and comer Emerson Palmieri, while Antonio Conte is the increasingly agitated customer waiting for his meal. In this waning metaphor, I suppose Monchi is the cook who continues to stir and simmer the stew waiting for just the correct temperature, while the likes of Erik Lamela and Nicola Sansone are the next table, anxiously waiting to simply place an order.

The heart of the issue, it seems, is Edin Dzeko’s desire to sign a longer contract with Chelsea. Per Tuttomercatoweb, Dzeko is angling for a two-year contract with the Premiership club, one that would keep him at Stamford Bridge through 2020 rather than 2019, as currently constructed.

This, in turn, has led Chelsea to reportedly seek alternative options, not only to Dzeko but Palmieri as well, as they’ve seemingly pivoted to PSG full back Layvin Kurzawa (per Sky Sport Italia). I suppose giving them time to question plopping down €25 million for a kid coming off an ACL injury wasn’t exactly torn from the pages of Michael Scott’s seminal business book, “Somehow I Manage”

Now whether or not we can draw a straight line from Edin Dzeko-to-Chelsea to the sudden Erik Lamela reunion rumors remains unclear, but today Coco’s name, as well as former EDF protege and current Villarreal forward Nicola Sansone’s, were connected with moves to the Eternal City, presumably to fill Dzeko’s inconsistent shoes.

While both men would naturally come with different baggage and benefits, the fates of no fewer than five footballers remain in the balance as Dzeko and Chelsea’s transfer chiefs haggle over that year, putting Conte’s sanity on the precipice.

There’s never a dull moment in the transfer game, but with the January transfer window creeping down towards the sill, there isn’t much time left to get this sorted.