Calcio Mercato: Daniele De Rossi rejects summer move to NYCFC

Efforts out of the U.S. and China to pry Italian international midfielder Daniele De Rossi away from AS Roma are a no-go. According to Calcio Mercato, the 33 year old hitter has spurned an opportunity to join Andrea Pirlo at NYCFC when his current contract is up this summer.

The report suggests that the player is working on a new deal with his current club. The Notorious DDR has over 400 appearances for Roma dating back to his 2001 senior debut, and may need to accept a wage reduction in order to lock in a fresh contract. If he is willing to consider a move to China, however, he could be in for the biggest payday of his career: Fabio Cannavaro’s Tianjin Quanjian are said to favor the player, with reports suggesting a bid around €15 million, with an annual salary of €10 million.

It’s worth noting that no player in MLS has yet made as much as $8 million in one season.

The intermittent cascade of sexy innuendos linking De Rossi and NYCFC date back to the club’s inaugural season; of course, Claudio Reyna & Co. eventually opted for Andrea Pirlo as their third designated player. Even now, however, a player of De Rossi’s bruising-yet-dynamic bent would serve New York City’s interests perfectly.

Having never had a true, tested number-six defensive midfielder to strike legitimate fear into the hearts of oncoming attackers, it won’t be a surprise if the Boys in Blue sign a midfield destroyer to occupy the DP spot vacated by Frank Lampard, global name recognition be damned. Neither DRDs nor Ozzie Alonsos grow on trees. If there’s another one out there... pay the man.

h/t Reddit NYCFC