According to reports in the Italian media AS Roma will be prepared to sell defender Mehdi Benatia. The Serie A club in recent weeks have always maintained that the Moroccan international isn’t for sale but things have changed in the past couple of days.
TMW have reported that Roma will now start to listen to offers for Benatia which will put both Manchester City and Spanish giants Barcelona on alert. Both clubs have been tracking the player in recent weeks but Roma manager Rudi Garcia has regarded him as an untouchable and therefore he wasn’t prepared to let him leave. The Italian side have been trying to extend the contract of the 27 year old but it now seems they are further away to agreeing on this and therefore they have backtracked on their decision to trying to keep the player at the club.
Only this week Calcimercarto reported that Benatia dreams of playing for a club like Manchester City. He said that he is now at a stage in his career were he needs to play for a bigger club and indentified the likes of the Premier League champions and Barcelona as being clubs he would like to join.
“Today there are clubs such as Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Manchester City, teams that are the dreams of footballer. Anyway, I'm waiting, and we're talking with my agent. I think soon we will know a little more," said the Moroccan international on his future,” said Benatia on his desire to play for the Premier League champions.
With Vincent Kompany needing a reliable partner in the centre of the defence Benatia may be seen as an alternative to Porto defender Eliaquim Mangala. The French international has recently spoken about not wanting to join Manchester City but instead play for Chelsea so the club have had to look for alternatives.
