De Roon explains why Roma followed Gasperini from Atalanta

Former Roma striker Amantino Mancini has backed the Giallorossi to mount a Serie A title challenge this season, highlighting manager Gian Piero Gasperini as the club's most important signing in recent years. Speaking on Sky Sport, Mancini praised Gasperini's track record at Atalanta and his immediate impact at Roma, where he has restored the club to the Champions League after 7 years. "It's the most important acquisition Roma has made in recent years," Mancini said. "Hopefully we can repeat and do even better than last season and perhaps win the Scudetto in the year of Roma's centenary, which would be a great gift for the fans." Mancini believes Roma can be genuine title contenders, though he acknowledged work remains. "According to me, they can be a candidate. Obviously you need to sort out a few more things, make one, two or three more signings. But I think it's a team that can win the Scudetto," he stated. Gasperini's tactical approach—built on physical intensity and high pressing—has transformed Roma's prospects, and Mancini suggested the manager's methods are already bearing fruit both domestically and in Europe. The comments underline growing confidence that Roma can compete at the highest level under their new manager.

Roma's pursuit of Endrick has become significantly more difficult following Real Madrid's sale of Gonzalo Garcia to Fulham for a fee close to €40 million. The Spanish club's unexpected decision to move Garcia out has fundamentally altered the Brazilian forward's prospects at the Bernabéu. Garcia had been competing with Endrick for a starting position in Real Madrid's attack, with manager Mourinho planning to evaluate both players during pre-season before deciding their futures. With Garcia now sold to Fulham, Mourinho no longer faces that choice. Endrick can now be retained as an in-house attacking talent ready to develop under the Portuguese manager's guidance. The €40 million from Garcia's departure gives Real Madrid funds to reinvest elsewhere—reportedly on Rodri—but more importantly removes the pressure to offload Endrick. A loan move, previously considered possible, now appears less likely. Roma, under head coach Gasperini, will need to explore alternative targets. Only the arrival of another centre-forward at Real Madrid could reopen the possibility of Endrick departing, but the current outlook suggests the Brazilian will remain with the club. Roma's recruitment team will continue working behind the scenes on other profiles to strengthen the attack.

Roma have a long history of recruiting Greek players, particularly in defence. The first was Lampros Choutos, an attacker from Roma's youth academy between 1995 and 2000 with only 4 appearances, followed by defender Traianos Dellas (2002–2005, 67 presences, 4 goals, 3 assists). Dimitrios Eleutheropoulos served as third-choice goalkeeper in 2005–06 without playing. Between 2012 and 2019, four Greek players represented Roma: the standout centre-back Kostas Manolas (206 presences between 2014 and 2019, 8 goals, 6 assists), plus full-backs Vasilis Torosidis (77 appearances with 7 goals and 5 assists from 2013 to 2016) and José Cholevas (34 presences with 1 goal and 1 assist in 2014–15), alongside midfielder Panagiotis Tachtsidis (23 appearances with 1 goal and 2 assists in 2012–13). Torosidis publicly backed the signing of Koulierakis. More recently, centre-back Dimitrios Keramitsis (born 2004), a cornerstone of Roma's youth setup, earned only one first-team appearance between 2022 and 2024. Full-back Kostas Tsimikas featured 25 times with 1 assist in the last disappointing campaign before returning to Liverpool.