Sampdoria president aims swipe at Arsenal star after following transfer fiasco.

Sampdoria president aims swipe at Arsenal star after following transfer fiasco.

Sampdoria president Massimo Ferrero has taken a gibe at Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka after the Swiss captain’s aimed move to AS Roma failed.

Xhaka seemed all but set to join Jose Mourinho’s side after agreeing on personal terms with the Italian titans back in June.

However, the two clubs couldn’t click on a fee as the Gunners wouldn’t shift on their £17million asking price, with Roma reportedly reluctant to pay more than £11m upfront before a deal collapsed last week.

It now seems that the deep-lying playmaker will likely alternatively sign a new deal with the north London club after manager Mikel Arteta convinced him to stay at the Emirates Stadium, something that he also managed to do in January 2020 when Xhaka seemed to be on his way to Bundesliga outfit Hertha Berlin.

With the 28-year-old ostensibly staying put at Arsenal, Roma are still in need of a midfielder. That has provoked Ferrero – a well known ‘Romanista’ – to advertise his prized asset Mikkel Damsgaard, whilst also sending a dig at Xhaka in the process.

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“Damsgaard is the player Roma need,” he told Corriere dello Sport.

“If they call me up we can talk about it and find an agreement. He’s better than Xhaka.

“Damsgaard is a quality player, he can even play in front of the defense. So let’s get together, all I’m waiting for is a phone call and we can find a solution. Xhaka’s not coming to Roma, so they’re still missing a player in the middle of the pitch.”

He added: “I want him to go to Roma. I am a Romanista and Damsgaard would be a great reinforcement.”

Damsgaard enjoyed a prolific Euro 2020 campaign, netting two goals and providing one assist to help Denmark reach the semi-finals of the competition before they crashed out to England after losing 2-1.

Despite his president’s recognition, the 21-year-old boasted significantly worse midfield metrics than Xhaka last season.

The Swiss star averaged 7.17 progressive passes and 8.99 passes into the final third per game last term, considerably better than the 3.5 and 2.34 that Damsgaard averaged in these respective categories.

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Sampdoria president aims swipe at Arsenal star after following transfer fiasco.