According to the Daily Mail, Norwich City have tabled a £4.5 million bid for Roma striker Mattia Destro. However, a conflicting report from Football Italia suggests that Bologna (who were originally thought to be leading the race anyway) are close to signing him.
It remains an audacious transfer for David McNally and Alex Neil to pull off, but the ever-growing consensus that a new striker is necessary means Norwich City may be willing to splash the cash.
Yesterday, Roma announced the signing of Manchester City’s Edin Dzeko on a season-long loan, further suggesting that Destro will be moving on. The Bosnian will occupy the number nine shirt in the Italian capital.
Nicknamed ‘the Destroyer’, The Italian international spent the second half of last season on loan at AC Milan where he scored 3 goals in 15 appearances. His top-flight experience is something Norwich will be keen on, and at only 24 years of age, he still has a lot of potential.
The striker has also represented his country eight times, scoring once, as well as at every youth team level during his career. All the signs suggest he’s a very decent player. Surely that comes at a price?
It was previously suggested that Norwich may be capable of offering higher wages than competitors Bologna if he chooses to make the move to East Anglia.
However, while Norwich may be capable financially of supporting Destro, they may deem it disruptive to have a player on higher wages than other members of the team. Furthermore, one would expect that for a player of his ilk, the current offer of £4.5 million will not be anywhere near enough to clinch the deal.
Overall, it still looks most likely that Mattia Destro will be joining Bologna, with the added incentive of it being his home country.
We’ll be watching closely on any further developments.
