Patrick Vieira has called Manu Koné “the best midfielder in France”, Troy Deeney has compared him favourably with Declan Rice, and Manchester United's move is still at the contact stage. Fabrizio Romano says there is no bid to AS Roma and no club-to-club negotiation yet, even as reports continue to circle around a summer move.
Vieira and Deeney have raised the bar
Vieira's praise was the sharpest of the lot. He said: “He is for me today the best midfielder in France. I'd put him ahead of Tchouameni and Adrien Rabiot. He has this mobility, he is aggressive, he is a ball-winner, and he has the technical ability to be part of the build-up, has the facility with the ball to break lines and move forward.”
Deeney went down a similar path, saying: “I think he's very, very talented. He's got very Declan Rice attributes; he's got a very big engine, running hard, but I think he may be a little bit tactically smarter than Declan as well.” Rice's 7.3 season rating gives the comparison some weight, even if it is still just a comparison.
Kone's France role also helps explain why he is being talked about like a top-end target. He started every match until the World Cup semi-final, then came on as a second-half substitute in the defeat to Spain. That is the sort of tournament usage that usually gets clubs paying attention.
United and Roma are still a step apart
The transfer picture is less advanced than some of the noise suggests. Romano said: “At the moment, Manu Kone remains on Manchester United's list, but still no bid to Roma, no club-to-club negotiations. If you see reports of €85-90 million for Manu Kone, I'm told that it's not accurate. I'm hearing that the price tag would be lower for the French midfielder.”
That leaves the two main price readings in play. TEAMtalk says Manchester United are planning a bid of about €50million and that an agreement in principle has been reached with his representatives. The same reporting says AS Roma would want to push demands above €60million if the contacts intensify.
Roma's own position gives them leverage. They finished 3rd in Serie A and have won 5 of their last 5 league matches, so there is no obvious urgency to make this deal easy. United, who finished 3rd in the Premier League and won 4 of their last 5 league matches, are looking to add quality rather than patch a broken midfield.
For now, Kone is the name attracting the loudest praise and the most conflicting pricing. United may still like the player enough to push on, but Romano's update keeps the key point simple, there is interest, not a bid, and Roma have not been forced into real negotiations yet.
Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 4 outlets. How we work →
