Galatasaray move for Martinelli with €45m offer as Roma opportunity fades

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.