Roma Prepares for Koné Offers as Manchester United Shows Interest

The World Cup has passed. The transfer market is now wide open, and in Rome they know exactly what that means: Manu Koné is about to become the center of attention.

Roma are preparing for substantial offers for the midfielder, with Manchester United at the front of the queue. The club have already started to map out life after Koné, aware that the next few weeks could reshape their midfield and their balance sheet in one stroke.

Financial reality bites

Gian Piero Gasperini has not hidden the situation. He recently admitted that Roma will likely have to sacrifice a key player to meet financial demands. The original deadline to make that sale has been pushed back by a month, now landing on July 31, but the pressure has not eased.

Inside Trigoria, the ideal solution would be different. Roma would prefer to cash in on Matias Soulé, yet the market has not responded as hoped. Concrete proposals have been scarce, and the player has already turned down a lucrative move to Saudi Arabia. That refusal, admirable to some, complicates the club’s strategy.

So attention turns, inevitably, to Koné.

A major profit on the table

Roma value Manu Koné at €55–60 million. On paper, it is a dream deal. He sits in the accounts at just €12 million, so any sale at those figures would generate a huge capital gain, the kind of “plusvalenza” that can reshape a budget and unlock other moves.

Manchester United are tracking him closely, weighing him up alongside other midfield targets such as Eduardo Camavinga and Alex Scott. Chelsea have also entered the race, adding another heavyweight to the chase and another layer of tension to Roma’s summer.

For the Giallorossi, losing Koné would hurt on the pitch. On the books, it could solve a lot of problems.

BlueCo connections and a replacement plan

Roma are not waiting passively. They are already eyeing players under BlueCo control as possible answers if Koné departs. The club have placed Frank Kessié and Khephren Thuram under serious consideration, a response shaped in part by recent frustration at Juventus hijacking their move for Zeki Celik at the last moment.

Celik himself could now leave for around €40 million, another potential piece in a complex financial puzzle.

The recruitment department has widened the net. Celtic’s Arne Engels is on the shortlist, with a valuation in the €20–25 million range. From South America, Botafogo’s Danilo Santos has emerged as another option. Fresh from Brazil’s World Cup squad, he carries a price tag of roughly €30–35 million and the kind of profile that can quickly ignite a European bidding war.

A deadline, a market, and a decision

Roma stand at a familiar crossroads for Italian clubs: the need to sell smartly to buy ambitiously. Koné is the asset that can transform their summer, but also the player they would least like to lose.

With July 31 looming and Manchester United and Chelsea circling, the question is no longer whether the offers will come.

It is whether Roma will be able to turn the loss of a centerpiece into the foundation of a stronger, deeper squad.