Tottenham target Giuseppe Rossi wants £4.3m-a-year deal to join Juventus from Villarreal

Giuseppe Rossi, Villarreal

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EXCLUSIVE
By Goal.com Italy

Villarreal striker Giuseppe Rossi has told Juventus they will have to offer him an annual salary of €5 million (£4.39m) to lure him away from the Spanish club, Goal.com understands.

The Italy international has emerged as a leading candidate to bolster Juve’s attack after the Serie A outfit were rebuffed in their chase of Sergio Aguero.

A transfer could be completed for a fee of €30m (£26.3m), but the Italians have been told they will have to put a huge chunk aside to sign Rossi, as the striker wants to double his Villarreal salary to make €5m (£4.39m) per annum in Turin.

Such deal would make him the club’s second highest-paid player, behind veteran keeper Gianluigi Buffon, who earns €6m (£5.2m) a year.

Rossi, who joined Villarreal in 2007, was strongly linked with a move to Barcelona earlier in the summer, but the Liga champions could not agree terms with the striker’s employers.

Tottenham, who are also interested in a move for the former Manchester United man, would be expected to struggle to match such terms, with chairman Daniel Levy holding a strinct salary cap over the club.

But Harry Redknapp has made no secret of his admiration for the Italian forward.

He told Sky Sports News: “Rossi’s top drawer, he’s a clever player.

“He gets it into feet, he holds the ball up, he scores goals, and he’s the Italy centre-forward now.

“We tried to get him last year and I think the fee was £18 million. That looks cheap now but he was a player we nearly had last year.”