Gasperini pulls out of scheduled Sky Sport appearance

Sending young players out on loan is often meant to build experience, but the tactic frequently backfires. Three recent cases illustrate the gamble: Bologna's Antonio Raimondo, Roma's Alessandro Romano, and Atalanta's Dominic Vavassori have all thrived in loan moves, raising questions about whether their parent clubs made the right call letting them go. Raimondo has scored two double goals in Bologna's opening four matches this season after manager Tedesco chose to start the season with Artem Dovbyk, fresh from a difficult spell at Roma, and Roberto Piccoli. Roma took a bolder step by loaning Alessandro Romano to Cagliari with an obligation to buy during the summer transfer window. Romano scored on his debut, has been among Cagliari's best performers consistently, and earned a senior international cap—a remarkable return for a prospect Roma developed in their youth academy. Roma's midfield includes Cristante, Koné, Pisilli and De Roon, all established operators with strong pedigree. Their presence justified sending Romano out, yet one observer, Pisacane, remarked that Romano was "very similar to Strootman," suggesting his value may have been underestimated. Vavassori, with Atalanta, has an equally striking early record. Though Sarri declined to change his forward pairing of Scamacca and Krstovic—the combination that earned Atalanta European qualification last year—Vavassori has netted twice in the opening stretch of this season with Palermo, a club positioned to mount a promotion bid. Baldini recognised Vavassori's potential after calling him to a national team stage following the World Cup campaign, and Atalanta acknowledged his promise by granting him significant minutes in their U23 side. Not every loan fails: Milan showed sound judgment loaning Cissè and Liberali to Catanzaro last season under Aquilani, and both have since been integrated into the first team. The article concludes that success depends on the squad, the player, and the context—there is no universal formula, though evaluation errors remain common.

Alessandro Romano, a Roma academy product sold to Cagliari this summer, is attracting significant attention after an impressive start to the season. Cagliari manager Fabio Pisacane has drawn a striking parallel with Kevin Strootman following the club's victory over Udinese, saying of the 20-year-old midfielder: "I think he doesn't even know how strong he is. He's a complete player — if I'm to make a comparison, he's a player like Strootman, with even greater physical impact." Pisacane added: "Perhaps Strootman had a more educated left foot, but Romano has game understanding, sacrifice, dedication, knows how to play football. He's a complete player. He needs to play a lot, even if he makes mistakes." The comparison resonates sharply in Rome because Strootman, before a serious knee injury derailed his trajectory, was one of the most accomplished and well-rounded midfielders to play for Roma in recent years. Romano has found at Cagliari what he would have struggled to obtain immediately at Roma under Gasperini: regular playing time, confidence, and the freedom to learn through mistakes. The academy prospect has progressed rapidly enough to earn his first senior national team call-up. The tension is that Romano did not leave on a simple loan: Cagliari acquired him with an obligation to buy for approximately €6 million upon the completion of unspecified sporting conditions. If those conditions are met, he will be contracted to Cagliari until 2032. Roma's problem is both tactical and structural. Romano was regarded as one of the most promising prospects from the Giallorossi youth academy and had already sampled Serie A football under Gasperini. At only twenty, he is now demonstrating the ability to handle a significant role in the top flight, combining technical quality with a tactical maturity that impressed Pisacane: "He seems like a player much older than his age." The club does need revenue from its academy, and not every young player can find immediate space in a side chasing Champions League qualification and the Serie A summit. Yet when a Trigoria-developed player begins to establish himself elsewhere within months of departure, questions become unavoidable — especially when his daily coach invokes the name of Strootman.

Alessandro Romano, a Roma academy graduate who departed for Cagliari a few weeks ago, has impressed his new club sufficiently to earn a call-up to the Italy national team at the behest of coach Mancini. Cagliari manager Pisacane highlighted Romano's development after his side's victory over Udinese, drawing a comparison to a former Roma midfielder. Pisacane told Sky: "Romano? I don't think he even knows how strong he is himself. He's a complete player—if I have to give an example, he's a player like Strootman but with more physical impact. Perhaps Strootman had a more educated left foot, but he's a player who understands the game, has sacrifice, has dedication, knows how to play football. He's a complete player. He needs to play a lot, even if he makes mistakes: he surprised me—compared to Palestra, who made two or three mistakes at Udinese, he seems a player much more mature than his age would suggest."

Roma's wing positions are now secure. Coach Gian Piero Gasperini no longer faces the tactical problem that troubled him last season: the absence of a quick, technical player on the opposite flank from Wesley. Last year, with Wesley as one of Serie A's strongest defenders on one side, Gasperini had to adapt by repositioning Zeki Çelik elsewhere. That constraint has lifted. Emanuele Lulli, young and rapid, is already providing assurances and proves ready for this campaign. But Roma have also landed another signing that drew less attention yet showed its value yesterday: Nahuel Molina. The Argentine is rising in fitness; the residual effects of the World Cup are passing. In the match against Inter, he was perfect. He contained Diouf, supported the attack, and was decisive in the final third with an assist for Manu Koné's first-half goal. Molina's skillset is there; consistency is the next step. He does not yet have 90 minutes in his legs, but the flanks now have valid masters. Wesley leads them, followed by the former Udinese player and Lulli. Gasperini can rely on all three without losing quality. The improvement from last season is enormous. The Piedmont-born coach plays through the flanks, favouring attacking football with pushing players who can contribute in front of goal. Now he has them on both sides. Molina is a top-level player. Lulli will be. The flanks have an owner on each side, and Gasperini can only be pleased.

Roma close the opening phase of the 2026-27 season unbeaten after their 2-2 draw with Inter, maintaining four wins and two draws across the opening block of fixtures. Manu Koné scored twice in that Inter match and heads the player ratings across Italian media with an average of 7.9, rewarded for his dominant display. Bryan Cristante and Paulo Dybala both averaged 6.7, Nahuel Molina 6.6 and Leonardo Balerdi 6.5, while Gianluca Mancini registered the lowest average at 5.3 after an error that led to Lautaro Martinez's opening goal; among substitutes, Daniele Ghilardi struggled with 5.5. The international break presents a significant challenge to Gasperini's plans. Roma will have only seven players available during the roughly 20-day break: Mile Svilar, Pierluigi Gollini, Mario Hermoso, Molina, Devyne Rensch, Marten de Roon and Dybala. Even Dybala will leave for several days to attend Lionel Messi's farewell international match. With numbers so thin at the training ground, Roma will have to draw on Primavera players and schedule a couple of friendly matches. Training resumes on Monday afternoon after most of the squad departs to join their respective national teams over the weekend. Roma were 2-0 ahead at half-time against Inter before conceding twice in the second half to settle for the draw.

Roma drew 2–2 with Inter at the Olimpico, maintaining joint top place in Serie A alongside the Nerazzurri and delivering significant proof points in the 2026–27 campaign. Manu Koné scored twice in the opening forty-five minutes—his first career brace—to become the match's dominant figure. Head coach Gian Piero Gasperini said afterwards: "We played it on equal terms." Koné's performance carried particular weight given Inter's sustained pursuit of him over two recent transfer windows. In August 2025, Inter lodged a concrete offer to Roma for the midfielder, with Sommer and Thuram—former teammates from Germany—attempting to persuade him to move. Roma rejected those proposals and removed him from the market entirely. On the pitch against the Nerazzurri, Koné demonstrated the finishing ability his manager had long sought him to add to his existing qualities of pressing, dribbling and physical power. His opening goal came after six minutes: Inter lost possession, Paulo Dybala crossed, Nahuel Molina nodded it down, and Koné struck first time past the goalkeeper. In first-half injury time the pattern repeated—Dybala played a set-piece, Gianluca Mancini touched it on, and Koné inserted himself to fire low under the bar, initially ruled out before the VAR review stood the goal.