Roma Faces Koné Departure as Manchester United Shows Interest
The World Cup is done, the confetti has settled, and in Rome the calculators are out. Roma know what comes next. Manu Koné is about to test the market, and the market is very interested.
Manchester United are at the front of the queue, sensing an opening for a midfielder whose value has surged. Roma, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport, are already working on the next step: how to turn a looming sale into a financial springboard without tearing a hole in the squad.
A deadline and a sacrifice
Gian Piero Gasperini has already laid out the reality. One key player will likely have to go to balance the books, and the club has pushed its internal deadline back by a month, to July 31. That buys time, not a reprieve.
Inside Trigoria, the ideal solution would be different. Roma would rather cash in on Matias Soulé. The problem? The market hasn’t played along. Offers have been underwhelming, and when Saudi Arabia came calling, Soulé said no. The big, easy sale hasn’t materialised.
So attention swings back to Koné, the asset whose value has rocketed.
Koné, United and a big ‘plusvalenza’
Roma have put a price on Koné: €55–60 million. On paper, it is a huge piece of business. He sits on the club’s books at €12 million, so any sale at those figures would generate a major ‘plusvalenza’ and ease the financial pressure in one hit.
That kind of upside is exactly what attracts clubs like Manchester United, who are tracking him alongside Eduardo Camavinga and Alex Scott as they look to reshape their midfield options. Chelsea are in the frame as well, casting their own net over the same area of the pitch.
Roma know what that means. Interest at that level rarely fades quietly. So they have moved early, sketching out what life after Koné might look like.
BlueCo targets and midfield contingency plans
The Giallorossi have turned their gaze towards players under BlueCo control, probing the possibility of a deal that suits both their accounts and their tactical needs.
Frank Kessié and Khephren Thuram are on the list, names that would immediately steady the conversation after a high-profile departure. Both profiles speak to power and presence in midfield, a way of answering not only the potential loss of Koné but also the sting of Juventus stealing in late for Zeki Celik. Celik himself could leave for around €40 million, another moving piece in a restless summer.
Roma are not limiting themselves to one market. Celtic’s Arne Engels has been shortlisted, his valuation sitting in the €20–25 million range. Younger, less established at the very top level, but with room to grow and a fee that leaves space for other moves.
Then there is Botafogo’s Danilo Santos. Fresh from Brazil’s World Cup squad, his price is higher — roughly €30–35 million — but he brings the kind of international profile that plays well both on the pitch and on the balance sheet.
A pivotal summer in the capital
The strategy is clear: sell once, sell big, and rebuild with precision. Koné looks like the piece that unlocks the entire puzzle.
If Manchester United or Chelsea meet Roma’s valuation, the club will have the funds and the justification to reshape their midfield around one, or even two, of those targets. If they don’t, the pressure shifts back to finding another sacrifice before July 31.
Roma are used to living on this edge. The question now is simple: does this summer become the window they cash in on Koné and reset, or the one where a stalled market forces them into a different kind of gamble?
