Dybala contract renewal approaching as Gasperini backs Argentine forward

Roma's third kit for the 2026–27 season has appeared in online sales at overseas retailers ahead of its official launch on 9 September. Manufactured by Adidas, the strip features a black base with white trim and the club's former crest positioned centrally on the chest, directly below the technical sponsor logo. The sleeves are decorated with thin yellow and red stripes, while the back of the collar displays the words 'Lotta con il cuore' (Fight with heart) alongside the ASR monogram. The Friedkin Group approved a return to the Roma crest for the 2026–27 season, and this third kit marks a notable design choice with the historic badge. The kit's premature appearance comes as Roma prepare for the start of their campaign, with the opening fixture set for Monday, 24 August at the Stadio Olimpico against Fiorentina. The unofficial preview has already circulated widely on TikTok and X, giving supporters an early glimpse of the design well before Adidas formally unveil it on 9 September.

Roma's third kit for the 2026–27 season is already available for purchase outside Italy, ahead of its official unveiling on 8 September. The shirt is black with white accents and features the club's traditional crest at the centre of the chest, positioned below the Adidas logo. Small yellow-and-red stripes run along the sleeve edges, while the collar bears the inscription "Lotta con il cuore" and the ASR logo. The leak comes via social media before Roma's formal presentation of the kit. The design follows the pattern established by the first two shirts of the season — the Virtus inspired the home strip and the Pietas the away kit. The third kit is understood to draw inspiration from the Roman virtue of Fides. Roma begin their league campaign on Monday 24 August at the Olimpico against Fiorentina, with the official kit launch now scheduled for 8 September as the club prepares for the 2026–27 season.

Roma returned to Italy on the afternoon of 8 August following a 3–0 friendly defeat to Brighton during their ten-day training camp in Wales and England. The squad travelled by coach to London before boarding a direct flight to Fiumicino. Head coach Gian Piero Gasperini granted his players two full days of rest before resuming work. Training resumes on Tuesday at the Fulvio Bernardini centre in Trigoria, where Lorenzo Pellegrini will rejoin the group. Gasperini also expects to have Nahuel Molina on the pitch the same day. The Argentine right-back is set to arrive in Rome in the coming days to undergo medical tests ahead of signing his contract with Roma.

Roma's English pre-season tour ended in concern after a 3–0 defeat at Brighton laid bare significant defensive lapses and attacking impotence. The performance revealed delays both in physical conditioning and the absorption of tactical patterns, leaving Roma having conceded 11 goals across their last four friendly outings. Head coach Gian Piero Gasperini expressed open frustration on the touchline, demanding greater midfield screening and emphasising the urgent need to activate the team's intensity. The match highlighted glaring defensive oversights and minimal cutting edge up front. Devyne Rensch came under constant pressure on the counter-attack from Yankuba Minteh, while Mario Hermoso had an off day in marking Georginio Rutter. Donyell Malen showed signs of being short of match fitness. The attacking partnership of Santiago Castro and Paulo Dybala made little impression on goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen. With two weeks remaining before Roma's competitive league debut, Gasperini will have crucial time to accelerate both recruitment and work at Trigoria to correct these problems.

Roma are in the decisive phase of their summer transfer window hunt for a left-winger to strengthen their attack. With Lorenzo Pellegrini's contract renewal formalized and Paulo Dybala and Matías Soulé securing the right flank, sporting director Tony D'Amico is looking to provide head coach Gian Piero Gasperini a player capable of delivering goals and depth. Gasperini's brief is clear: a young but already sufficiently prominent profile to match the club's ambitions. Malick Fofana of Olympique Lyonnais is the primary target, valued at approximately 40 million euros. The Belgian winger's pursuit faces significant obstacles, chiefly competition from RB Leipzig—fresh from selling Diomande to Real Madrid—who shares the same agency (Roc Nation) with Fofana. Roma are therefore exploring alternatives of high calibre. Jamie Gittens, available after Chelsea's acquisition of him a year ago from Borussia Dortmund for 60 million, features prominently among them. The club is also quietly exploring the possibility of a loan move for Endrick from Real Madrid.

Gian Piero Gasperini acknowledged Roma's transfer shortfall after a poor showing in a friendly against Brighton, conceding that the club lacks adequate depth. The head coach said: "If we do the count, numerically there is still a need for something, but you know how it is. D'Amico is negotiating very young and very important players. That is the indication." Gasperini stressed that squad decisions rest with the club's chief executive, saying: "We have a chief executive, you will have to ask him these questions and he will say what Roma can and cannot do. On numbers and market possibilities the ball passes to him." Gasperini cited returnees from international duty—Evan N'Dicka, Neil El Aynaoui, and Donyell Malen—as still recovering their sharpness. He praised Paulo Dybala's fitness and noted that recent arrivals from the start of preseason had performed well. The manager confirmed that an injured player "will be out for at least a month," with discussion to resume from September onward. Gasperini also highlighted recent squad changes: "We replaced Çelik with Molina, whom we will see on Tuesday. We replaced Dovbyk with Castro, who I believe will give us great satisfaction. And then Koulierakis arrived, who seems interesting to complete the defence."

Roma's attacking department has been decimated ahead of the 2026–27 season, with coach Gian Piero Gasperini now overseeing just five senior forwards for the role — down from ten options at the end of January. The remaining quartet consists of Donyell Malen, Paulo Dybala, Matías Soulé, and Robinio Vaz, with young prospect Arena also available. The collapse mirrors Gasperini's repeated public calls for investment in attack. Speaking exactly a year ago on 4 August 2025 at the English national team's St. George Park facility in Burton Upon Trent, Gasperini outlined his philosophy: "It concerns all clubs that spend large sums on attackers. The offensive department is the most sought after and most expensive. Teams with strong attacking players are more competitive." That same summer, Roma pursued Fabio Silva and Jadon Sancho without success, settling on a loan move for Romain Bailey as a last-minute solution. By the end of 2025, Roma had assembled eight attacking options — Dybala, Artem Dovbyk, Evan Ferguson, Bailey, Soulé, Baldanzi, Stephan El Shaarawy, and Lorenzo Pellegrini — to fill three positions in Gasperini's preferred 3-4-2-1 formation. The winter transfer window swelled that number to ten through the departures of Bailey and Baldanzi and the arrivals of Malen, Vaz, Bryan Zaragoza, and Lorenzo Venturino. However, only Malen performed consistently. With just twenty days until the league campaign begins, Roma faces a critical shortage. The club is reportedly making another approach for Nusa and preparing a move for Fofana to bolster the depleted ranks.

Roma find themselves in unexpected stasis on the transfer market one month before their Serie A opener against Fiorentina, hampered by slow planning, a complex summer constrained by Settlement Agreement rules, and difficulty delivering the reinforcements Gian Piero Gasperini has requested. As of late July, Roma had completed zero signings and just one minor departure, leaving six players from last season's squad still to be replaced: El Shaarawy, Ferguson, Tsimikas, Celik, Venturino, and Zaragoza. The club also has several players ready to depart—Salah-Eddine, Kumbulla, and Dovbyk among them—while others including Soulé and Koné remain uncertain. Contract complications surround Dybala, and Pellegrini's position requires clarification. Delays stem from structural issues worsened by Tony D'Amico's late arrival as sporting director, who became operational only in the final ten days of June following a dispute with Atalanta, compounded by World Cup scheduling and Settlement Agreement restrictions. Gasperini intends to compete at the highest level while preserving the squad's core and adding only a few elite signings. Roma pursued Mason Greenwood and Luis Summerville at length, becoming committed to the Dutch player beyond their budgeted limits before the deal collapsed entirely.

Roma are pursuing Summerville to fill the most glaring weakness in Gian Piero Gasperini's tactical system. The club has identified a right-footed attacking winger—capable of playing as a trequartista or winger on the left—as the top priority for the new season, with sporting director D'Amico now working alongside Gasperini to address the gap. The void has persisted for seasons. Throughout August, the club sought a loan deal for a right-footed attacking option without success, pursuing targets including Fabio Silva (who remained at his club with one year remaining on his contract) and Jadon Sancho via videoconference. January brought only unsuccessful temporary deals for Bryan Zaragoza and Lorenzo Venturino, alongside the unproven centre-forward gamble of Robinio Vaz, signed for €25 million. Summerville's arrival would finally remedy what has been an obvious deficiency in Roma's attacking setup under Gasperini.

Roma returned to Italy on the afternoon of 8 August following a 3–0 friendly defeat to Brighton during their ten-day training camp in Wales and England. The squad travelled by coach to London before boarding a direct flight to Fiumicino. Head coach Gian Piero Gasperini granted his players two full days of rest before resuming work. Training resumes on Tuesday at the Fulvio Bernardini centre in Trigoria, where Lorenzo Pellegrini will rejoin the group. Gasperini also expects to have Nahuel Molina on the pitch the same day. The Argentine right-back is set to arrive in Rome in the coming days to undergo medical tests ahead of signing his contract with Roma.

Gian Piero Gasperini is evaluating the possibility of organising a second training camp away from Trigoria during the first international break of the season, which will last three weeks this year. The Roma head coach identified multiple areas to refine following the summer tour of Wales and England, where he was able to integrate only new arrival Konstantinos Koulierakis into his system while awaiting the arrival of Nahuel Molina in the capital. The squad resumes work at Trigoria on Tuesday to prepare for a friendly against Borussia Dortmund on 15 August, the final warm-up before the Serie A season opener against Fiorentina on Monday 24 August. The proposed September retreat holds particular strategic importance for Lorenzo Pellegrini, Roma's recently renewed captain. Pellegrini missed the summer training camp for the second consecutive year due to ongoing physical issues and is expected to return between late September and early October. A second pre-season block would allow him to build the necessary fitness to reach full condition. Gasperini's wider focus extends beyond squad integration, with the strategic use of the extended international break providing an opportunity to fine-tune preparations ahead of the campaign's crucial opening weeks.

Roma's head coach Gian Piero Gasperini is considering arranging a preparation camp outside the club's Trigoria training ground during September's international break. The idea emerged after Roma's recent tour of Wales and England, during which Gasperini welcomed only Koulierakis while awaiting Molina's arrival in the capital. From Tuesday, Roma will intensify preparations ahead of a friendly against Borussia Dortmund on 15 August and their league opener against Fiorentina on 24 August. Gasperini's focus extends beyond the transfer window to squad conditioning. This season marks the first time the Serie A campaign will feature a three-week pause in late September and early October. During that window, Lorenzo Pellegrini is expected to return to full availability after completing his recovery. The captain renewed his contract recently but requires additional time to reach peak fitness, with Gasperini stating after Brighton's pre-season match against Roma that 'it will take another month'. Pellegrini skipped the summer retreat for the second consecutive year, and a mid-season training camp could accelerate his return to full form.