Gasperini targets left winger as Roma step up attacking recruitment

Leonardo Balerdi was the standout performer on Saturday 24 October, when he scored twice in Roma's clash with Napoli at the Maradona and also secured a decisive point for the Giallorossi. His teammates left plenty of praise under his post on social media, but the most heartfelt message came from his partner, Giulia Ciancio, who wrote: "Vederti felice è la mia gioia. Vamos siempre amore." Balerdi's situation at the club is also in focus. His purchase option, or riscatto, is not in question at present. The deal is structured so that the obligation to buy becomes mandatory if the defender, born in 1999, plays at least 55% of the season's matches across all competitions, with at least 45 minutes on the pitch in each. The obligation would then be set at the same figure as the option. A variable mechanism has also been agreed. If Balerdi plays between 40% and 55% of the matches, the obligation is fixed at €11 million. A final clause protects Marseille from any attempt to keep the player out of the team to secure a discount: just 20% of matches played in the second half of the season would trigger the obligation at €9 million.

Roma have stepped up their interest in Olympiacos centre-back Lorenzo Pirola, sending scouts to Greece to assess the Italian defender up close, according to Turkish journalist Ekrem Konur. Roma representatives reportedly attended several Olympiacos matches at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium, including the derby on 11 October against Panathinaikos, which Olympiacos won 1-0 and in which Pirola played the entire match. The Giallorossi are said to be following the 24-year-old's development with the next transfer windows in mind. Pirola is a left-sided centre-back who came through the Inter youth sector and has already featured in Serie A for Salernitana. He moved to Olympiacos in the summer of 2024 and has since extended his contract until June 2028. Described as a young player with solid international experience, he could, given his technical qualities, be an interesting option for the defence of Gian Piero Gasperini. The interest is not new. Konur first reported Roma's interest in Pirola in December 2025, when he said the Greek club were then asking more than 15 million euros to open negotiations. The latest update suggests the monitoring has not stopped, although no official offers or negotiations have been reported so far. Source: Ekrem Konur (X).

Roma have a concrete chance of signing Real Madrid forward Endrick in January, according to transfer journalist Matteo Moretto, who spoke on Radio MARCA. Moretto said: "Roma and Milan are very interested. Above all Roma, it is a real possibility for January." The key issue is the playing time José Mourinho will give Endrick in the coming weeks. Despite the Portuguese coach's stated wish to keep him, the striker's future at Madrid is far from guaranteed. The Brazilian continues to find little space in the side and, if nothing changes, a loan move in the winter window could become a concrete option. Roma had already tried to bring Endrick to the capital during the summer and had reopened contacts for the player in recent weeks. Milan remain a significant rival, but Moretto believes the Giallorossi represent a particularly concrete lead. Much will depend on Mourinho's choices and on how much space the 20-year-old can carve out for himself between now and January.

Leonardo Balerdi scored a brace last night, becoming Roma's 12th different goalscorer of the season in just 11 matches across Serie A and the Champions League. In Europe, with the same number of games played, only Brighton, Brentford and Real Sociedad have scored more. Roma's attacking threat, which was missing throughout 2025, now looks almost limitless and allows them to turn around even awkward evenings like last night's. The article draws a comparison between Gian Piero Gasperini's football and the "Total Football" of Rinus Michels, the Dutch coach who built Ajax and the Netherlands side of Cruyff in the 1970s and 1980s. Against Sassuolo-style defensive walls, Gasperini's side includes defenders in the build-up and in attack. At the moment of Wesley's cross for Roma's 3-3 equaliser, only Castro was in the box alongside the two centre-backs, Ghilardi and Balerdi. Goals from Hermoso, Mancini and N'Dicka are regularly part of this approach. Balerdi said after the match: "It is the first time I have scored a brace. The coach is teaching me to get forward like Mancini and Hermoso do, he gives me this freedom to push on and get closer to the opposition goal." The article admits Roma played a first half below their standard, conceding space, quick counterattacks and showing widespread tiredness in midfield, where they usually win many duels. Yet the team showed courage, changes that lifted the level, and a coach in Gasperini who had been criticised only a little over a week earlier for substitutions compared to those of Mourinho, when Bernardo Silva, Endrick and Arda Guler were left out of the starting line-up. A comeback draw away at Napoli is now seen as a missed opportunity, the article argues, a sign of how Gasperini has changed the club's mentality and built total symbiosis with the environment and the fans.

Balerdi's stoppage-time equaliser at 89 minutes, which earned Roma a 3-3 draw at Napoli, was ruled valid by the leading Italian newspapers' match reviews, despite Napoli's protests over contact with Beukema. The referee was Andrea Colombo, who handled several contentious moments without a decisive error according to the press. The Napoli protest centred on contact between Balerdi and Beukema at the start of the move. The reviews judged the touch too light to justify disallowing the goal. Balerdi also got back up after falling and rejoined the move before going down again. Roma's earlier equaliser, which made it 2-2, was also deemed legitimate: Castro struck the ball with his face rather than his arm, so there was no offence in either of the two Roma goals Napoli had contested. Other incidents were reviewed too. Rafa Marin's challenge on Wesley in the early minutes earned a yellow card that was considered correct, with no grounds for a red. Colombo also rightly played on at the 34th minute, when Gollini came out of his area to challenge De Bruyne and touched the ball with an arm; the reviews found the arm was close to the body, so no penalty or sanction against the Roma goalkeeper was warranted. Late on, Massimiliano Allegri was sent off for protesting after Balerdi's goal, while De Roon was booked for disputing a free kick awarded to Napoli. The referee's marks were broadly satisfactory, with some differences between papers. La Gazzetta dello Sport and Corriere dello Sport both gave Colombo 6.5, praising his handling of the key incidents and the consistency of his approach. Il Messaggero was more cautious with a 6, saying some whistles were unconvincing but that he made no decisive errors on the big calls, helped by technology. Il Romanista gave the harshest verdict, a 5.5, arguing that some decisions had helped inflame the match, while acknowledging that the refereeing did not directly affect the final result.

Leonardo Balerdi earned the top rating in the Italian newspapers after scoring a brace that rescued Roma in their 3-3 draw at the Maradona. Matías Soulé was next best, with his goal starting the comeback and a performance full of quality. Molina also received a solid mark of 6.50. Among the players rated below par, Pisilli had the lowest average at 5.25, followed by Rensch on 5.50 and Hermoso and Malen on 5.58. Gasperini finished with an average of 6.60. The newspapers largely agreed on the key refereeing decisions in the Napoli 3-3 Roma match. Balerdi's first equaliser for the 2-2 was ruled valid, with Castro striking the ball with his face in the build-up. The final 3-3 also stood, as the contact between the Argentine and Beukema was judged too light to justify a penalty. Gazzetta dello Sport and Corriere dello Sport both gave Colombo 6.5, Il Messaggero awarded him a 6, and Il Romanista was harsher with a 5.5. Il Romanista's verdict on Colombo read: "He irritates everyone, but in the end he does not directly affect the result."