• Premier League

De Rossi back on City's radar

ESPN staff
November 5, 2012
Manchester City in need of a win

Manchester City have been encouraged to revisit their interest in Roma midfielder Daniele De Rossi by the Italian side's general manager Franco Baldini, who has revealed that the club are open to offers for the 29-year-old.

City boss Roberto Mancini has made no secret of his admiration for De Rossi and tabled a bid for the Italy international in the summer, believed to be in the region of €50 million, only to see it turned down.

De Rossi said at a press conference in August that he had never asked to leave Roma, was happy with the club and would make an announcement if he changed his position over the matter.

However, after 12 years at Roma he appears to have fallen out of favour with coach Zdenek Zeman, who took charge of the club ahead of the 2012-13 season. De Rossi has started just six games since the Czech arrived.

Reports in the Italian press have suggested that, aside from any problems with the coach, some members of the board would be keen to offload the midfielder for financial reasons. Baldini had recently dismissed talk that Roma need to sell the player to raise capital, but he has now indicated that he could be available at the right price.

He told Sky Italia: "In the summer, there was an offer made by Manchester City - we listened to that offer and considered it. If we were to get another offer we would listen again, but we could easily turn it down, as we did the first time."

De Rossi, under contract until 2017, is also said to have attracted interest from Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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