Nkoulou asks not to play at Torino while future is assessed

Nicolas Nkoulou

Monday Aug 26, 2019. 16:00

Cameroon defender Nicolas Nkoulou asked to be withdrawn from the Torino squad to face Sassuolo at the weekend while his future is resolved, but things took a new twist on Monday.

Nkoulou has been heavily linked with a move away from Turin in this transfer window, and claimed he was not in the right frame of mind to play the season-opening fixture for his club that ended 2-1 in their favour.

There has been constant media speculation over where he might end up, with Serie A side Roma apparently leading the pace, which led to Torino president Urbani Cairo warning them off his player.

But Roma have released a statement in which they say they have made no contact, nor are they interested in any Torino players.

”In reference to the recent comments made by the president of Torino FC, Urbano Cairo, and reported by a number of media outlets, the club would like to clarify that it has never made contact with any Torino player and is not interested in any member of the Granata squad,” the statement said.

Where that leaves the 29-year-old Nkoulou is anybody’s guess with the window having a week to run.

He spent the majority of his career in Ligue 1 at Monaco, Marseille and Lyon, but moved to Italy ahead of the 2017/18 season, where he has been a regular for Torino, making 82 appearances in two campaigns.

He has already played five matches for the side in the UEFA Europa League this season, the last being Thursday’s 3-2 home loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Torino’s next match is the return leg of that fixture in England on Thursday.