Bologna away trip at risk for Roma fans; Kvernadze eyed for January

Roma are weighing a move for Frosinone attacker Giorgi Kvernadze, who has scored three goals already this season and caught the attention of bigger clubs. The Georgia international is valued at over €20 million after joining Frosinone for around €1 million, and is believed to fit Gian Piero Gasperini's system. Roma conducted exploratory research on the player and see him as both a capable acquisition and one offering room for growth. The club pursued several attacking signings in the summer but none materialised. Kvernadze is expected to be a target again in the summer window, as Roma look to strengthen their attacking options. Beyond his ability on the pitch, the player is viewed as a sustainable target with development potential. Hull City have also enquired about Kvernadze, and Roma are hoping his value does not escalate further. The club is evaluating the possibility of executing a favourable January move for the forward.

Manu Koné has emerged as one of Roma's standout performers this season after the club resisted multiple Premier League approaches during the summer transfer window. Chelsea made concrete advances with a €60 million offer, while Atlético Madrid had tabled €45 million, but Roma chose to retain the midfielder. That decision has vindicated itself: Koné scored a vital brace against Inter in a 2-2 draw and has impressed consistently under head coach Gian Piero Gasperini, who has benefited from keeping him away from the London giants. His stock has risen sharply on the international stage as well. New France boss Zinedine Zidane has begun deploying Koné in a deeper midfield role, and the 24-year-old is thriving in that position—mirroring the creative freedom he enjoys at club level when given licence to advance. La Gazzetta dello Sport reports that his market value has now climbed closer to €100 million, a significant uplift from the €60 million Chelsea offered just months earlier. Roma are using comparable transfer valuations as a benchmark. The fees Tottenham paid for Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali are cited as markers for the club's assessment of Koné's standing in the current market. The Giallorossi believe that if other clubs can command those sums, Koné represents a substantial asset worthy of a premium valuation.

Alessandro Romano's sale to Cagliari has become a flashpoint for criticism of Gasperini's transfer strategy, but the narrative conflates a promising young midfielder with an elite prospect and misreads Roma's reasoning for the deal. Romano earned excessive hype after four strong matches with Cagliari, leading to comparisons with Rodri and a call-up to the Italy squad after just 451 minutes in Serie A. His debut for the national team proved disastrous and drew unwarranted criticism. The sale itself became weaponised against Roma—a club top of the league with unprecedented numbers—as though offloading Romano represented a catastrophic error. Roberto Mancini, Italy's current manager, fuelled the narrative, saying in a press conference: "Romano, I knew little of him, but he impressed me at the first matchday and I wanted to see him. I believe he can be important for the national team's future, he plays with first touch and Ranieri did well to flag him." Mancini's comments overlooked a key fact: Romano had debuted under Gasperini, who therefore did not rate him as poorly as the mythology suggests. Gasperini's decision to sell Romano for a fee reaching €9 million with bonuses and a resale percentage was nearly unavoidable given squad structure and midfield depth. Romano would have been a fifth-choice option and lacked the characteristics ideal for Gasperini's system. The absence of a buyback clause is a legitimate point of debate, though including one would have significantly reduced the final figure. Within days, fears took hold that Roma had lost another De Rossi. Instead, the rush to portray Gasperini as foolish took precedence over assessing the emotional state of a young player who, a year earlier, was playing in Primavera. The article suggests other young defenders—Ghilardi, Tresoldi, Kayode, and Pisilli (on loan to the Under-21s)—merit national team opportunities more than Romano, and that diplomatic victory over Switzerland mattered more to the discourse than sporting judgment.

Alessandro Romano's sale to Cagliari has become a flashpoint for criticism of Gasperini's transfer strategy, but the narrative conflates a promising young midfielder with an elite prospect and misreads Roma's reasoning for the deal. Romano earned excessive hype after four strong matches with Cagliari, leading to comparisons with Rodri and a call-up to the Italy squad after just 451 minutes in Serie A. His debut for the national team proved disastrous and drew unwarranted criticism. The sale itself became weaponised against Roma—a club top of the league with unprecedented numbers—as though offloading Romano represented a catastrophic error. Roberto Mancini, Italy's current manager, fuelled the narrative, saying in a press conference: "Romano, I knew little of him, but he impressed me at the first matchday and I wanted to see him. I believe he can be important for the national team's future, he plays with first touch and Ranieri did well to flag him." Mancini's comments overlooked a key fact: Romano had debuted under Gasperini, who therefore did not rate him as poorly as the mythology suggests. Gasperini's decision to sell Romano for a fee reaching €9 million with bonuses and a resale percentage was nearly unavoidable given squad structure and midfield depth. Romano would have been a fifth-choice option and lacked the characteristics ideal for Gasperini's system. The absence of a buyback clause is a legitimate point of debate, though including one would have significantly reduced the final figure. Within days, fears took hold that Roma had lost another De Rossi. Instead, the rush to portray Gasperini as foolish took precedence over assessing the emotional state of a young player who, a year earlier, was playing in Primavera. The article suggests other young defenders—Ghilardi, Tresoldi, Kayode, and Pisilli (on loan to the Under-21s)—merit national team opportunities more than Romano, and that diplomatic victory over Switzerland mattered more to the discourse than sporting judgment.

Roma players on international duty produced mixed results across Europe and Africa on 26 September as the first round of fixtures in the international break played out. Rodrigo Mora was the standout performer for the Giallorossi, starting for Portugal Under 21 against Bulgaria in a Euro qualifier and playing all 90 minutes wearing the number 10. The 2007-born midfielder created the opening goal at the 50th minute, cutting into the area and delivering a low pass for Gustavo Varela to score. Portugal's lead did not hold; Bulgaria came from behind to win 2-1 with goals from Pavlov in the 87th minute and Marinov in stoppage time. Despite the defeat, Mora delivered a decisive contribution after losing recent game time with Roma. Manu Koné and Evan N'Dicka both completed 90 minutes in victories for their nations. Koné was an immediate starter in the new France squad under Zinedine Zidane, playing the entire Nations League match away to Turkey, which France won 1-0 through a Kylian Mbappé goal in the 54th minute; Koné received a yellow card in the closing stages. N'Dicka featured throughout Ivory Coast's 2-0 victory over Ghana in Africa Cup of Nations qualifying on the first matchday, with goals from Malick Yalcouyé and Franck Kessié, keeping a clean sheet in the centre of defence. Gianluca Mancini had a difficult evening at the Stadio Olimpico. The Roma defender started for Italy in a Nations League match against Belgium managed by Roberto Mancini, with the Azzurri defeated 2-0. Godts opened the scoring in the 20th minute, getting the better of Mancini, and Lukebakio added a second in the second half. The number 23 played the full match in a challenging performance for Italy's entire defensive unit. Konstantinos Koulierakis remained on the bench for Serbia's 2-1 loss to Greece, while young defender Daniele Ghilardi, called up to the senior squad for the first time, was left out of the 23-man squad for the Olimpico fixture. Further Roma players are due in action over the coming days. Leonardo Balerdi, Santiago Castro and Matías Soulé will begin their fixture cycle with Argentina on 30 September against Bolivia, the same day Mora returns with Portugal Under 21 against Gibraltar. On 1 October, Niccolò Pisilli and Emanuele Lulli will feature for Italy Under 21 against Armenia, and Giorgio De Marzi for the United States Under 19 against Brazil.

Giancarlo Antognoni, head of Italy's U21 delegation, has backed Emanuele Lulli for his first-ever senior youth squad call-up, saying the Roma defender merits the honour because he is playing regularly for his club. Speaking on the Amore Giallorosso programme on T9, Antognoni said: "I believe that Lulli deserves this call-up because he is playing as a starter for Roma and so coach Baldini has rightly taken him into consideration. Emanuele is an important player for Roma and will be for the national team too because his is a position that is somewhat uncovered. Before him we had Palestra and Kayode who were called up to the senior squad and so I believe that Lulli can represent an important surprise for the national team in future, and this is thanks to Roma for playing him. I believe Baldini sees something important in him." Lulli is among Roma's current squad and plays in the defensive ranks. Antognoni noted that Italy's U21 side have performed positively under coach Baldini, winning two recent senior friendlies against Luxembourg and Greece. The delegation head said the upcoming fixtures are pivotal: "We have these last two matches, and if we manage to win both of them we will qualify by right to first place. If something different happens, we will have to review our path a bit." Antognoni also discussed fellow Roma academy player Niccolò Pisilli, who is with the U21 squad. He stressed that being selected for the youth team rather than the senior side is not a demotion. "Pisilli is a guarantee for us," Antognoni said, "and being here instead of with the senior national team is not a step back. Mancini had called him up with the first squad, but since he is an important player for the U21 and we have these two important matches, it was decided to have him play with us." Pisilli celebrated his birthday during the squad's preparation phase. Italy's U21 team face Armenia next, followed by what Antognoni described as a probably decisive match against Poland as they pursue automatic qualification to the European Championship.