Roma president James Pallotta has dismissed reports he has negotiated the sale of some shares in the Serie A club to the Chinese Evergrande consortium.
It has been rumoured strongly in recent months that Pallotta is seeking further investment in the Giallorossi, and the trail had recently led to China.
Two Chinese groups have recently taken -- or are about to take -- controlling stakes in AC Milan and Inter and it has been suggested that Roma could be next, but Pallotta says such talk is ridiculous.
"I have never, ever, ever spoken with Evergrande or anyone else in China," Pallotta told Reuters. "We are not in talks with anyone. This speculation is ridiculous."
The Eternal City club, who are listed on the Italian Stock Exchange, felt compelled to issue a statement earlier this week denying the rumours, which could have had a negative effect on their stock market value.
Their general manager Mauro Baldissoni has added his voice to that of Pallotta to condemn the rumour-mongering.
"We're a little disappointed because it's the second time in the space of four days that we've gone over this -- what's more after an official statement from the club," Baldissoni said on asroma.com. "There is no truth to rumours of potential buyers, be they Chinese or otherwise.
"The president hasn't met with investors or banks. Lest we forget, Roma is a company listed on the stock exchange. We have to be very careful. There's no problem as long as opinions are confined to the team. However, we cannot stand by when we read nonsense or inaccurate reports on the club's structure or financial markets.
"We call on the press to tread more carefully, to check their facts and make efforts to avoid publishing complete falsehoods that could have repercussions on the rules by which we run a listed company.
"Stories of meetings with banks in London -- it's complete nonsense. We call on journalists to be more careful when they report inaccurate or false stories and we're happy to clarify anything first."