Roma must pay Inter €3 million if they wish to complete a swap deal involving Edin Dzeko and Alexis Sanchez, according to a report from Gianluca Di Marzio tonight.
The clubs’ sporting directors Piero Ausilio and Tiago Pinto met in Milan this evening to try and agree a remarkable last-minute exchange, which would see Dzeko and Sanchez move on loan for the remainder of the season.
As per Di Marzio, Inter and Roma are both in favour of the deal from a sporting perspective, with the Giallorossi in particular keen to sort a deal after Dzeko fell out with head coach Paulo Fonseca.
However, the swap can only go through if there is no net spend involved for either club, which presents a problem for Inter regarding Dzeko’s wages.
The Bosnian’s annual salary before tax is around €3 million higher than Sanchez’s, but Inter cannot afford to pay that much more for the next six months due to the club’s current economic problems.
The only solution, therefore, would be for Roma to pay Inter that fee as part of the deal, ensuring the Nerazzurri do not need to spend anything to get the move over the line.
Di Marzio said the parties would reconvene tomorrow in a bid to find an economically satisfactory agreement for both clubs.
Inter will check Antonio Conte is happy with the swap before finalising any deal, although this is unlikely to be an issue given that the Italian coach has wanted to sign Dzeko ever since he became Inter’s head coach in 2019.
