Roma are confident Lorenzo Pellegrini will agree to sign a new contract once Tiago Pinto speaks with the rumoured Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur target, per Calciomercato.
CEO Pinto is currently away from Rome after taking the international break as a chance to fly away on holiday. The Giallorossi chief endured a frantic summer striving to strengthen Jose Mourinho’s first Serie A squad at the Stadio Olimpico.
Roma have shelved plans to extend Pellegrini’s contract while Pinto is away from the club’s offices. Talks will resume imminently upon his return, and are confident their club captain will agree to put pen to paper. The Italian’s current deal is set to expire next summer.
There are currently no pressing issues between Roma and Pellegrini’s positions over a new contract that could threaten an extension. The biggest obstacle remaining is the size of his salary, with Pinto yet to reduce the distance to his expectations.
Liverpool and Tottenham executives will likely pay close attention to Roma and Pellegrini’s imminent negotiations over his future in Rome. Corriere dello Sport reported in June that interest from Anfield, as well as rival attention from Barcelona, flattered the 25-year-old.Additionally, Calciomercato reported Liverpool and Tottenham were prepared to trigger a €30m (£26m) release clause in Pellegrini’s current Roma contract. Discussions had already begun over a new deal, but were proving to be tiresome and without a resolution in sight.
Roma view Pellegrini as an integral piece of their future and want to extend his terms until 2026. But Il Romanista note he wants a net €4m-a-year (£66k-p/w) salary to renew, while the club only offered €3m (£49.5k-p/w). A new deal would also remove the release clause.
Liverpool and Tottenham will want to monitor the tone of negotiations between Pinto and Pellegrini’s agent, Giampiero Pocetta, to see if he commits to Roma. Any new deal will be one of his most significant career calls, as it may take him past his 30th birthday in 2026.
Both Jurgen Klopp and Nuno Espirito Santo would undoubtedly like to have someone in their engine rooms of Pellegrini’s calibre. The 18-cap international is the metronome of the Stadio Olimpico side. He also already has three goals and an assist in four games this term.
Pellegrini offered Paulo Fonseca, while in charge at Roma, 11 goals and nine assists in 47 games last season, too. While Giallorossi icon Francesco Totti also once described the Rome-born maestro, via DBAsia, as a ‘phenomenal’ player.
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