ROMA are set to reignite their interest in Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka with Jose Mourinho determined to sign the Swiss international.
The 29-year-old was keen to link up with the Serie A side last year, but a move failed to materialise after the two clubs couldn’t agree a fee.
Two-time FA Cup winner Xhaka then penned a new contract at the Emirates with boss Mikel Arteta stating he never wanted to sell the player.
But it was claimed last week how the Rome outfit were preparing a new bid to prise the ex-Borussia Monchengladbach ace away from North London.
And now transfer guru Gianluca Di Marzio has stated that Roma are desperate to bring Xhaka to the Italian capital.
Speaking to Wettfreunde, he said: “This transfer was almost done in the summer .
“Jose Mourinho wanted him and I think he would go for him again in the summer.
“Roma needs a player like him. They had Sergio Oliveira in January but he is not a ‘regista [deep-lying playmaker]’.
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“Roma needs a player in the midfield with ideas, an expert player like him.”
Di Marizo then claimed that the injury Roma left-back Leonardo Spinazzola picked up at Euro 2020 meant that the club couldn’t afford Xhaka.
He added: “Xhaka wanted to join Roma. He waited one month, a month-and-a-half.
“Roma raised the offer to Arsenal and thought to have him for the price they offered for the first time then Spinazzola got injured in the European Cup.
“They had to buy Matías Vina from Palmeiras. So they did not have enough budget to raise the offer and the deal collapsed.
“Roma wanted to have Xhaka and only because of the Spinazzola injury did the deal not go forward.”
Should Arsenal sell Xhaka at the end of the season, SunSport exclusively revealed earlier this month how Wolves ace Ruben Neves is being lined up.
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