Gasperini closes Koné saga: Roma will not sell French midfielder
After Roma's 4-0 victory at Lecce in Serie A, manager Gian Piero Gasperini ruled out any departure for Manu Koné, despite reported interest from Chelsea in the final hours of the transfer window.
Gian Piero Gasperini ended speculation surrounding Manu Koné on Monday evening, the day after Roma’s emphatic 4-0 away victory at Lecce in Serie A. The Italian manager was categorical: the French international will not leave the club.
“A departure for Manu? I have absolutely no impression of that,” Gasperini said at his press conference. “No one at the club has informed me of this. Our group of owners has no intention whatsoever of selling players.”
These comments came just hours before the close of the summer transfer window, as the 25-year-old midfielder’s name had been circulating insistently with Chelsea. According to available information, the London club had made the former Toulouse player their priority in the event of Enzo Fernandez’s departure to Manchester City.
Koné, who came to prominence during the World Cup with France, had nonetheless been sending positive signals on the pitch: he made a second consecutive start at Lecce, proof that Gasperini is counting on him in midfield. Roma, which won 4-0 in Puglia, thus confirms its upward trajectory at the start of Serie A.
The matter appears definitively closed on the Italian capital’s side. Barring a last-minute turnaround in the final hours of the transfer window, Manu Koné will continue his Roma adventure.
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