Cassano hails Mora as a 'wonderful' talent but warns Roma he is destined for bigger clubs

Mario Hermoso is close to signing a contract extension at Roma, with negotiations underway and head coach Gian Piero Gasperini pushing to finalise the agreement. According to La Repubblica, as reported by TeleRadioStereo, the deal would add two more years with an option. The centre-back's current contract expires at the end of the season. Hermoso has enjoyed a strong run in Rome, scoring 8 goals in 49 appearances for the club, three of them in the current campaign. Gasperini was influential in keeping him at the club in the first place. Hermoso joined as a free agent in 2024 after his time at Atlético Madrid, but he struggled to win regular minutes in his first few months. He was loaned to Bayer Leverkusen in January, and a shoulder injury prevented the German side from buying him outright, so he returned to Roma. Hermoso was reportedly on the chopping block in the summer of 2025, until Gasperini took a liking to him. The coach made him a linchpin of the side, as his skill set and dynamism suited his style well. The Real Madrid product also spent time at Espanyol earlier in his career and has five caps for Spain, although he has not been called up since 2019. Gasperini likes good ball handlers and sound athletes in every position, and especially in the 'braccetti' role. Hermoso's goalscoring is a bonus that has served the team well, as they can bring almost the whole side into the final third when they are firing. The extension is seen as a no-brainer, as the financial sums are not expected to be a problem.

Former Roma forward Antonio Cassano has heaped praise on Rodrigo Mora, comparing the Portuguese midfielder to the early version of Joao Felix from his Benfica days, before the forward moved to Atletico Madrid. Speaking on the programme Viva el Futbol, Cassano said: "He reminds me a lot of the first Joao Felix, the one from Benfica. A wonderful player, stratospheric, you see few like him now. Then Felix didn't deliver and dropped off, but at the start I liked him enormously." Cassano also turned his attention to Mora's game time, directing a question at head coach Gian Piero Gasperini. Cassano said: "I really like Mora, he still has to grow. I'd like to ask Gasperini: why does he play him sometimes and not others?" The former playmaker said he would like to see Mora featuring more consistently, while acknowledging that the player still has to complete his development. What stands out to Cassano is not only the player's technical qualities but also his attitude in training every day. He said he had received information from the Trigoria environment about the player's work ethic. Cassano said: "At Trigoria they tell me he is a great worker, a workaholic. Mora is devastating, one-on-one he always beats his man. If he doesn't get messed up, I think he can make people talk about him for the next 15-16 years."

Fidelis Castro's goal and assist, earned in two starts at home to Genoa and Cagliari, have revived debate over the striker's place in the Roma squad and the money spent on him. The Argentine, fresh from a call-up to the national team, has once again drawn criticism from those who question whether Roma needed him at all, and whether he is worth the reported €35 million outlay. Some critics said last summer that Roma should have targeted Robinio Vaz instead, and that the money spent on Castro was wasted. The article notes that Vaz, who is described as a well-paid bit-part player at Hull City, would have been a better investment, and suggests that Dovbyk, who after just three months had worn out much of Bologna's patience, could have been kept. Against this, the writer argues that Castro has the hardest job among Roma's forwards. He plays almost exclusively in place of Malen, and when he comes on, the team is often more tired and less composed than when Malen is leading the line, leaving Castro to chase the ball alone and run down opponents mounting comebacks. Castro made his first start against Genoa, where he scored the first goal, decisive for the win, with a moment of magic. In his second start, against Cagliari, he struggled, as did the whole side, which came from behind to win and only really hit form in the closing stages. The writer contends that this was enough to revive the criticism seen over the summer, when the transfer market was labelled a disaster partly because the backup striker had cost so much. The article argues that it is too complicated for critics to consider that Malen is a cannibal who leaves his backup only a few minutes, and only when he has no energy left. The writer draws a comparison with the 1985-86 season, when Eriksson's Roma came close to the Scudetto. Pruzzo was the prolific starter, with Bruno Conti and Boniek alongside him, while Graziani and the young Tovalieri provided cover. Tovalieri was a key figure in the Coppa Italia that season and scored three goals in 22 appearances in the league, the writer notes, because Pruzzo left few scraps. The point is that Roma have an outstanding striker and a very good deputy, and that critics should be grateful rather than anxious. The article adds that last season, Ferguson and Dovbyk were the forwards, and that in January, before Malen arrived, Roma had brought in Vaz and tried to sign Füllkrug.

Former Roma forward Antonio Cassano has heaped praise on Rodrigo Mora, comparing the Portuguese midfielder to the early version of Joao Felix from his Benfica days, before the forward moved to Atletico Madrid. Speaking on the programme Viva el Futbol, Cassano said: "He reminds me a lot of the first Joao Felix, the one from Benfica. A wonderful player, stratospheric, you see few like him now. Then Felix didn't deliver and dropped off, but at the start I liked him enormously." Cassano also turned his attention to Mora's game time, directing a question at head coach Gian Piero Gasperini. Cassano said: "I really like Mora, he still has to grow. I'd like to ask Gasperini: why does he play him sometimes and not others?" The former playmaker said he would like to see Mora featuring more consistently, while acknowledging that the player still has to complete his development. What stands out to Cassano is not only the player's technical qualities but also his attitude in training every day. He said he had received information from the Trigoria environment about the player's work ethic. Cassano said: "At Trigoria they tell me he is a great worker, a workaholic. Mora is devastating, one-on-one he always beats his man. If he doesn't get messed up, I think he can make people talk about him for the next 15-16 years."

Former Roma forward Antonio Cassano has heaped praise on Rodrigo Mora, while predicting the Portuguese youngster will eventually move on to bigger clubs. Speaking on the latest episode of Viva El Futbol, Cassano said he sees a strong resemblance to the early Joao Felix, the Benfica version, adding: "He is a wonderful player, stratospheric, there are few like him around now." He was particularly impressed by Mora's technical quality and his ability to take on defenders. The former number 10 also praised the player's attitude, while raising concerns about how he is being managed. Cassano said: "Mora really pleases me, he still has to grow in structure. I would ask Gasperini why he is managed this way, given that he often substitutes him. He is devastating, in one-on-one situations he always gets past his man. From Trigoria they tell me he is also a great worker, a workaholic." His most striking comment concerned the player's future. Cassano believes Mora has everything needed to establish himself among the world's great talents and could make headlines for the next 15-16 years, provided he stays out of trouble. He said: "If he does not get himself into trouble, I think he could make the world talk about him for the next 15-16 years, and with all my affection for Roma, he will be destined to take other paths with teams of a certain level. He has a disproportionate talent." The praise comes at a strong moment for Mora's young Roma career. The Portuguese has scored in each of the last three league matches and has also earned a call-up to the senior national team. Cassano views this progress as merely the start of what could be an extraordinary path. Asked to compare him with Kerim Alajbegovic, another emerging talent in Serie A, Cassano replied without hesitation: "I'll take Mora for life. He is much stronger." The remarks are likely to be welcomed by Roma supporters, even if the prediction of a future away from the club may not. Cassano's comments also add to the debate over Gasperini's handling of the young forward.

Porto's finance director, José Pedro Pereira da Costa, has clarified the economics of Rodrigo Mora's move to Roma, which was one of the club's biggest investments in the latest summer transfer window. Speaking to the Portuguese outlet ECO, he said Porto's sale of Mora is an overall operation worth €50 million, even though the initial transfer was structured at a lower figure. Pereira da Costa set out the wider summer picture. "Overall, in summer 2026/27 we invested 37 million euros, compared with around 110 million the previous summer. And we made sales worth 78 million euros, including Rodrigo Mora for 50 million." He explained the structure of the deal, which he said was set at €25 million for 50%. Porto, however, holds an option that depends exclusively on its own decision, which is why the club views the transaction as a €50 million operation. For Roma, the detail matters because Mora is part of the current squad and his transfer terms are now being spelled out publicly. The explanation shows that the figure initially reported was only part of the financial picture, with the option giving Porto a further route to the full valuation. In his own words: "It was 25 million euros for 50%, but we have an option that depends exclusively on our will. For us it is a 50 million euro operation." The comments offer a rare insight into how Porto have accounted for the deal across the summer, with the €37 million invested and €78 million in sales giving a clear view of the club's transfer balance.