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Gasperini names Roma squad for Lecce trip; Balerdi included, de Roon absent
·30 August 2026·17h ago

Gasperini names Roma squad for Lecce trip; Balerdi included, de Roon absent

Source: Forza Roma

Roma travel to face Lecce on 1 September 2026 for their second official fixture of the season, with head coach Gian Piero Gasperini nearly at full strength. The major news is the inclusion of Leonardo Balerdi, confirmed as a Roma player on 30 August, alongside other new arrivals Konstantinos Koulierakis, Rodrigo Mora, Santiago Castro and Nahuel Molina. Lorenzo Pellegrini and Devyne Rensch remain unavailable and are expected to return to group training next week.

Notably absent from the squad are de Roon—who arrived in the capital on 30 August but has not yet been officially confirmed—and Neil El Aynaoui. Robinio Vaz is also out, as the forward is on the verge of transferring to Hull City pending Roma's approval and the arrival of another striker.

The full squad list: Goalkeepers: Mile Svilar, Giorgio De Marzi, Pierluigi Gollini. Defenders: Koulierakis, Evan N'Dicka, Molina, Mario Hermoso, Gianluca Mancini, Balerdi, Wesley, Emanuele Lulli, Daniele Ghilardi. Midfielders: Bryan Cristante, Manu Koné, Niccolò Pisilli, Mora. Forwards: Castro, Donyell Malen, Matías Soulé, Paulo Dybala.

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Leonardo Balerdi has made his competitive Roma debut after officially arriving from Marseille, speaking warmly of his welcome to the club and his ambition to convince manager Gasperini and climb the defensive hierarchy. The Argentine centre-back, who previously worked with Gasperini during the manager's time at Atalanta, described feeling "truly happy and very calm" since joining the Giallorossi. Balerdi is included in Roma's squad for Sunday's Serie A trip to Lecce on 31 August, as Gasperini seeks to maintain momentum following a commanding 4–0 home victory over Fiorentina.

Gasperini has also completed the midfield reinforcement of Marten De Roon from Atalanta within 24–48 hours. The experienced Dutch midfielder, who holds over 60 international caps, was released by Atalanta after many years and no longer fitted their plans. Gasperini praised the signing at his pre-match press conference, describing De Roon as "intact" despite his age and crediting him with bringing "personality" and "strong physical turning point" to a squad containing two new captains. However, Forza Roma notes that De Roon has not yet been officially registered and therefore remains unavailable for the Lecce fixture.

Roma continue pursuing left-sided reinforcement in the final days of the transfer window. According to the coverage, talks are ongoing with Zenit over Brazilian winger Luiz Henrique, born in 2001, who has signalled his openness to joining Roma as his priority. Meanwhile, Devyne Rensch and Lorenzo Pellegrini remain sidelined but are expected to return to training next week, while Robinio Vaz is absent as he prepares to join Hull City.

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Testo Originale / Source Text

La Roma va verso la seconda partita ufficiale della stagione, quella in casa del Lecce di Di Francesco che ha esordito con una bella vittoria esterna a Venezia. Gasperini ha quasi tutti a disposizione, ad eccezione di Pellegrini e Rensch che prossima settimana torneranno in gruppo. La novità tra i…

Read the full article in Italian at Forza Roma.

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