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AS Roma sporting director Walter Sabatini has slapped a 61 million euros ($83.24 million) price tag on unsettled defender Mehdi Benatia, a reported transfer target for Premier League champions Manchester City. |
Big-spending City won their second title in three years last season but are looking to solve the defensive issues that dogged their campaign, with Italian media reporting that they have tabled an initial bid of 22 million euros for the centre-back.
However, Sabatini remains adamant that the 27-year-old will remain in the Italian capital.
“His agent (Moussa Sissoko) claims that 30 million euros would be the right price, but for me that’s the cost of his left foot. His right one would be worth at least another million more,” Sabatini told reporters on Saturday.
“Benatia is a Roma player and he will stay a Roma player for another four years, unless someone willing to spend 61 million euros comes along.”
Benatia signed from Udinese before the start of last season and immediately struck a formidable defensive partnership with Brazilian Leandro Castan that saw Roma concede just 25 goals on their way to finishing second in Serie A.
The Morocco international has been involved in a public contract dispute with the Serie A club, however, with Benatia critical of the club for allegedly breaking a promise on a salary increase.
“Roma have not kept their promises. They had told me that they would make me a new contract offer if I had a great season,” he said last week.
“But I have received an unacceptable offer, less than three million a year. I replied that I would not sign it.
“I’m in love with Rome, I’m good here but my mistake was to be too correct and too honest with the club.
“My agent is doing his job, I could leave but I could also stay and finish my career at Roma. But I was disappointed with Roma - I deserved more respect.”
Sabatini hit back at the claims, saying the club had offered the player a healthy salary increase.
“We’ve given him a much bigger salary that he could have ever received at Udinese and we proposed a healthy increase on top of that,” Sabatini added.
“It’s probable that we misunderstood each other on how much he would receive, but no-one can tell me that an extra 400,000 euros plus good bonuses, which in total raises his salary to 2.6 million euros, is a paltry sum.”