The newspaper states however Roma now want €60m (£51m). The 25-year-old is valued at €60 million, but Manchester United are prepared to pay around €50 million in order to get the deal done.
Kone impressed at this summer's World Cup, playing a key role in France's run to the semi-finals in Aurelien Tchouameni's absence. ‘He has come into the World Cup with a couple of injuries and it has been a quite difficult season for him,’ Vieira told ITV during their coverage of France vs Norway at the World Cup. ‘But he is for me, the best midfielder in France today. I would put him ahead of Aurelien Tchouameni and Adrien Rabiot because he has got this mobility to move around the pitch. ‘He is aggressive, he is a ball winner and he has got this technical ability to be part of the build-up. He can break lines and play forward.’
With Casemiro leaving and Manuel Ugarte sustaining an ACL injury, the need to sign a number of central midfielders has been exacerbated.
Reporting: FourFourTwo, Metro, CaughtOffside, GiveMeSport, TeamTalk.