Roma 'had earmarked Dusan Tadic to replace Nicolo Zaniolo'

Roma ‘were set to swoop for Ajax star Dusan Tadic to replace Nicolo Zaniolo before he rejected a £26m move to Bournemouth – leaving Jose Mourinho furious with midfielder for not going’

• Roma had prepared to sign Dusan Tadic in event of Nicolo Zaniolo’s departure
• Serie A side had agreed a £26million fee with Bournemouth for the 23-year-old
• But Zaniolo refused to meet a delegation sent by the Premier League strugglers
• The Italian reportedly would instead prefer to join AC Milan or Tottenham 

Roma had already set their sights on a replacement for Nicolo Zaniolo in the event the Italian midfielder left the club in January.

The 23-year-old had seemed destined to leave the Stadio Olimpico this month, with Jose Mourinho claiming the wantaway star didn’t ‘want to play or train’ in a bid to force a move away from the club.

According to a report from Italian publication Il Romanista, the proactive Mourinho had already lined up a move to replace Zaniolo in the form of Ajax forward Dusan Tadic.

Jose Mourinho had reportedly prepared a replacement for Nicolo Zaniolo in the event the 23-year-old joined Bournemouth

The Serbia international, who spent four seasons in the Premier League with Southampton, has just 18 months remaining on his current deal at the Eredivisie club.

AC Milan and Tottenham were rumoured as potential destinations for Zaniolo, but it was Premier League strugglers Bournemouth who agreed a deal with Roma to sign the Italy international.

However, despite the Cherries being prepared to offer considerably more than Milan with a contract worth around £4.4m-a-year, Zaniolo did not attend negotiations with Bournemouth’s delegation bringing the move to a halt.

The Roma boss had earmarked for Southampton forward Dusan Tadic as the man to replace Zaniolo at the Stadio Olimpico

However, the Italy international refused to meet with Bournemouth’s delegation effectively ending any chance of move

Zaniolo’s absence infuriated his manager, who subsequently criticised him during a press conference ahead of Roma’s trip to Napoli on Sunday.

‘He told me, the club and his teammates that he doesn’t want to play for Roma,’ Mourinho said to Gianluca Di Marzio.

‘He said he doesn’t want to go back to playing with the team, that he doesn’t want to train with the team.’

With just days remaining in the January window, Zaniolo, who has just 18 months remaining on his current deal with the Giallorossi now seems destined to leave the club, with which he made his Serie A debut, in the summer.

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