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Reports:
Jerome Boateng's agent contacts AS Roma, Bobic says return to Hertha doesn't make sense "yet"

By Peter Weis   @PeterVicey

Italian daily Corriere della Serra reports that Jerome Boateng's agent has contacted AS Roma about potentially lining up the 2014 World Champion for a move to the club. 

At present, the rumor is not substantiated by any other sources. Speaking to Germany's Sport Bild about a potential return to Hertha BSC, sporting CEO Fredi Bobic suggested that bringing the youngest Boateng brother back may make more sense at some point in the future.
Jerome Boateng.
Jerome Boateng.Photo: Harald Bischoff, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
The ACL tear suffered by Leonardo Spinazzola in Italy's 2-1 European Championship quarterfinal win over Belgium on Friday may leave AS Roma without one of their key defensive cogs for up to eight months. The sports page of a major Italian daily reports that Jerome Boateng's professional representatives have sought to take advantage of the opportunity and contacted club manager Tiago Pinto about bringing in the 32-year-old veteran in on a free.


After it was announced that  his contract with German giants FC Bayern München would not be renewed at the end of this season, the future destination of the 2014 World Champion has remained couched in mystery for the past three months. Despite statements from Boateng himself that he had a "clear idea" of his next station, no reliably corroborative reports have surfaced over the course of the summer.

Boateng's elder half-brother Kevin-Prince recently returned to his Charlottenburg-Wilsmersdorf roots to finish his career with Hertha BSC. Any chance of Jerome, the youngest of three Berlin brothers who played for the Hertha youth ranks as a teenager, would appear not to make financial sense as Jerome's agents still seek a high personal salary at this stage of his career. Sport Bild reports this sum to be approximately €7-8 million.

Newly installed Hertha Sporting CEO Fredi Bobic commented on a number of club personnel matters of Tuesday. In addition to making statements on defender Omar Alderete and attacker Matheus Cunha, Bobic revealed that he and his administrative team would sit down with captain Dedryck Boyata to discuss a potential summer departure after the Belgian international re-settled in with the team.

Asked about Jerome Boateng by Germany's main tabloid, Bobic more or less confirmed that the former national team star was still seeking a placement that would allow him to continue playing without taking a significant pay cut. The sporting executive seemed to leave the door open to a potential return if, in time, the calculus of Boateng's advisors shifted.

"Jerome is still moving in a completely different sphere," Bobic noted, "It doesn't make any sense at all yet. I know his advisors well and there are certainly different thoughts at the moment. We'll have to wait and see what happens."



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