Gasperini on Çelik departure: Roma must move faster in the market

Gian Piero Gasperini will not hold his usual press conference on the eve of Roma's Serie A trip to Napoli, the Giallorossi boss has confirmed through the club's routine. The match, the eighth round of Serie A, takes place at the Maradona on Saturday 24 October at 18:00. Gasperini took part in the press conferences ahead of the Genoa and Slovan Bratislava fixtures, but he will not attend the pre-match briefing for this league game. As he did last season, the Roma coach is skipping the conference because his side played in Europe during the week. Napoli's head coach Allegri, by contrast, will speak to the media as normal tomorrow at 12:30.

Roma head coach Gian Piero Gasperini will not attend the traditional pre-match press conference ahead of the big match against Napoli, which is scheduled for Saturday 24 October at 18:00 at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona. According to Angelo Mangiante, speaking on Radio Mana Mana Sport, Gasperini will not take part in the press conference tomorrow, 23 October, where he would normally present the fixture against Napoli. The giallorossi are preparing for the high-profile encounter in Naples. Mangiante's report was broadcast on Radio Mana Mana Sport, and the news comes in the build-up to a Saturday evening fixture that will be played at the Maradona.

Roma head coach Gian Piero Gasperini has been named the winner of the 5th edition of the "Un cuore da leone" award, set up by Stelle nello Sport to honour the memory of sports journalist Gian Luigi Corti. Gasperini beat other prominent figures in Italian sport, including Arianna Fontana, Gregorio Paltrinieri, Ambra Sabatini and Nicolò Martinenghi. The award goes each year to a figure who refuses to give in to difficulties and who sees in every uphill climb a new chance to win. It is the latest recognition for Gasperini, who was appointed Roma head coach in 2025. Michele Corti, president of Stelle nello Sport, praised the coach: "Gian Piero Gasperini is not only a coach: he is the architect of a football dream that has become reality." The award will be presented on Sunday 8 November in Genoa, during Stelle nello Sport's traditional Charity Event in support of the Fondazione Gigi Ghirotti, at the Porto Antico.

Roma lost Celik in the transfer market, a departure that many considered painful, but the positive side has been the emergence of Pierluigi Lulli, who has moved from the Primavera to scoring his first Serie A goal. The development has been described as the defining 'sliding door' of the window. The Italian coverage frames Lulli's breakthrough as the positive counterweight to losing Zeki Çelik, whose exit was widely viewed as a painful one for the club. Lulli's first league goal marks a significant step for a player who has come through the youth ranks to the first team. The report was published on 19 October 2026 and is headlined around the idea that Lulli is the key figure to emerge from the market, as Roma look to build on his progress.

Roma's full-backs have become a cornerstone of Gian Piero Gasperini's push to the top of Serie A, a marked shift from last season when they proved problematic. Wesley and Nahuel Molina are now among the club's key strengths, and both will start when Roma resume the league campaign against Como, where they will face manager Fabregas. The turnaround reflects Gasperini's tactical evolution since arriving at the club: in his first season, Wesley was the only defender fully convincing on the flanks, while Zeki Çelik had to make do elsewhere. Now the picture is entirely different. Gasperini has uncovered Emanuele Lulli in the course of the season, and Molina has gradually built his fitness, delivering quality and assists to Roma's attacking phase. For the Como fixture, Gasperini plans to deploy Molina on the right and Wesley on the left. The selection reflects not just Roma's attacking ambitions but also Gasperini's defensive strategy: by using two attacking full-backs, he aims to stretch Como's wide players—Baturina on one flank and Diao on the other—and occupy them throughout the match. Wesley, the more naturally offensive of the pair, will be tasked with driving forward and supporting the build-up play. Molina is likely to carry greater defensive responsibility, balancing his own contributions with the need to contain Como's threats on the wing.

Gian Piero Gasperini will deploy Nahuel Molina and Wesley as twin wingers in Roma's visit to Como, harnessing simultaneous attacking thrust down both flanks to counter Cesc Fabregas's side. With Molina fully recovered and Wesley in continued form, Roma will field two genuine wide operators capable of delivering width, high pressing and chances for the attacking midfielders. The tactical choice targets Como's possession-based play built around Baturina and Diao's unpredictability; Molina and Wesley are instructed to close down Como's wide references and attacking midfielders immediately, forcing them away from build-up play into long balls. In possession, the overlapping runs of Molina and Wesley will create lateral chains with Paulo Dybala and Matías Soulé, opening space for crosses and inside passes. Last season Roma's right wing relied solely on Wesley alongside the converted Zeki Çelik, but the club now possesses one of Serie A's strongest selections of wide midfielders. Gasperini's side has already created thirteen goalscoring actions from wide midfielders this season—second in the league behind Inter's fourteen. Wesley leads with seven goal contributions, followed by Molina on four and eighteen-year-old Emanuele Lulli, an academy product promoted to the first team, who has added two decisive contributions and demonstrates the depth of alternatives available on the flanks. A key feature of Gasperini's system is the tactical flexibility of both players. Wesley and Molina can interchange wings during matches without loss of effectiveness, alternating deep play and crosses with cuts inside on their stronger foot to link with the attacking midfielders. This constant switching prevents opposing defences from finding fixed reference points and allows Roma to vary attacking approaches throughout the game.