Rumour: Roma demand £50 million for Tottenham and Chelsea target Mehdi Benatia

Mehdi Benatia of AS Roma celebrates after scoring the third team's goal during the Serie A match between AS Roma and Calcio Catania at Stadio Olimpico

Roma have slapped a £50 million price tag on Chelsea and Tottenham target Mehdi Benatia, writes the Metro.

Both London clubs, along with Premier League champions Manchester City, are thought to be monitoring the Udinese centre-back.

However, Roma’s sporting director Walter Sabatini has made the Serie A club’s stance on a potential transfer crystal clear, suggesting that a £25m bid would be derisory and only equatable to the “value of Benatia’s weak foot.”

“Benatia is a guy with sound principles – he didn’t want to take a step away from Roma fans or his team-mates,” Sabatini said.

“He has been completely coherent; he’s never played for himself, always with and for the team.

“Personally I think €30m [£25m] is the value of Benatia’s weak foot. If Benatia’s weak foot is worth €30m [£25m] then the total price would be €61m [£50m].

“Benatia is not for sale, unless someone comes to us with an offer of €61m [£50m].”

The Moroccan international was a key reason why Roma finished the Serie A season with the second best defensive record (behind Juventus), only conceding 25 goals in 38 fixtures.

Aside from his impressive defensive stats (one error, 62 % of headed duels won, 55% tackle success), Benatia also contributed in the final third, chipping in with five goals throughout the course of the campaign.

Roma are clearly under no pressure to balance the books, with Benatia set to remain at the Stadio Olimpico unless a bid of David Luiz-esque proportions is stumped up by his suitors.