Roma have completed the blockbuster addition of coveted midfielder Manu Kone in what will become a permanent move from Borussia Monchengladbach.
Kone, 23, has joined Roma on loan with an obligation to buy for a fee of €18m plus €2m in bonuses and has agreed a five-year contract for his first spell in Serie A.
Having impressed in the Bundesliga for three years, Kone has been linked with some Champions League level clubs, like Liverpool last year and AC Milan this year, but Roma have succeeded in signing him.
Kone will wear the number 17 shirt for Roma, who are the third club of his career after Toulouse and Gladbach.
Fresh from representing France at the Paris Olympics, where he won a silver medal, Kone now embarks on a new challenge in Italy with Roma.
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Finally, this could be the signing that elevates Roma’s midfield back towards the standards it used to be. One player alone cannot transform a department, but if Kone can play to his full potential, he could make a big difference.
10 years ago, Roma had a midfield consisting of: Daniele De Rossi, Miralem Pjanic, Radja Nainggolan, Kevin Strootman, Seydou Keita, Leandro Paredes and a young Lorenzo Pellegrini. It was a department blessed with quality. But over time, it has been worn down.
Paredes and Pellegrini, of course, would later return and form part of Roma’s present midfield, which despite having some decent individuals in has still looked lethargic, cumbersome, and ineffective as a binding point for a team playing on the transition.
A box-to-box midfielder like Kone could unlock a new threat in Roma’s midfield, truly lacking since the Nainggolan days.
Let’s simply hope he’s as good as has been claimed by those who have watched him
more closely, and that he can take Roma’s midfield to a new level.
Considering the interest he has generated, €18m should be a shrewd investment.
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