Italian press was ablaze with news about the 26-year-old "Roma" center-back Kostas Manolas' move to "Zenit" in Saint Petersburg, but the transfer might not happen after all.
Various sources from Italy reported that "Zenit" reached an agreement with "Roma" for the Greek national team player. The player himself also agreed to move to Russia, but negotiations stalled for an interesting reason - the defender refused to be paid in rubles by "Zenit" and wanted his salary to be paid in euros to his bank account.
It seems that due to this reason, the transfer of the Greek player to "Zenit" may not happen, so London's "Chelsea" intends to take advantage of the opportunity that K. Manolas is currently easily available on the market.
However, "Chelsea" won't get the defender cheap - "Roma" wants £38 million for him.
Antonio Conte has been closely monitoring this player for several years, so he is willing to offer a substantial amount of money for him. K. Manolas' arrival at "Chelsea" would likely mean the departure of either Nathan Ake or Kurt Zouma on loan basis.
