Gregucci says Roma can compete for Scudetto if Inter slip

Mile Svilar has returned to training without his protective brace and is cautiously targeting Roma's trip to Parma, ahead of a European night against the champions Paris Saint-Germain at the Parc des Princes. The Giallorossi goalkeeper, who has been missing during the international break's recovery period, is a key figure as Roma's defence has started the season near-perfectly. Roma rejected a Bayern Munich approach for Svilar in the summer, and the numbers explain why. Svilar is still the best goalkeeper in Serie A for the third consecutive season, leading the league for goals prevented per 90 minutes (0.38) and for pass completion rate (92.1%). Among the top five European leagues, he ranks second for save percentage (83.3%, behind Fortuño of Espanyol) and third for pass completion (behind Gulacsi and Restes). In many statistical categories he ranks above Courtois and Raya, both of whom finished in the top three of the 2026 Yashin Trophy, a race in which Svilar was not even among the candidates. The word that best describes Svilar, according to the piece, is security. Opta data show that across 485 minutes played, Svilar completed just 7 saves with a poor parry, meaning the ball stayed in play or was left for opponents. Gollini, in 483 minutes, completed 15 saves with a poor parry, more than double in the same period. The comparison is not an attack on Gollini, who has also prevented 2.75 goals in Serie A, but a figure that once again highlights Svilar's quality and reliability. Gollini and Vásquez stood in for Svilar with great professionalism during his absence, and Gasperini is eager to have him available again. Svilar is returning to training with caution, and his rehabilitation is progressing toward a return in the coming matches.

Rodrigo Mora has become a fixed presence for Gian Piero Gasperini after just two months, scoring four Serie A goals in nine appearances. Roma paid 25 million euros for the Portugal international, with a further 25 million to Porto possible. Mora is already part of the Portugal national team set-up. While Tommaso Baldanzi struggles to find space at Genoa under Daniele De Rossi, Mora is a regular starter for Gasperini. He ended a difficult start to the season with three goals in a row, against Genoa, Udinese and Sassuolo. He had never scored in three consecutive matches at Porto. His four league goals are double the two the former number 35 scored in 54 matches over two years. He has also registered two assists, against Real Madrid and Manchester United. The young playmaker's form matters for Roma's wider plans. Gasperini is enjoying a pairing of very young attacking midfielders. Rodrigo, born in 2007, works well alongside Matías Soulé, born in 2003. Paulo Dybala returns from the trip to Parma, but Mora will also find his place in Gasperini's system. Before the end of the year, Roma play seven matches in under a month, so the squad will need every option. The article stresses that the squad has room for everyone. Rodrigo's rise has changed the early-season picture, and his goals and assists have given Gasperini a clear reason to build his attack around him alongside Soulé and Dybala.

Roma's January transfer window risks becoming one of the pivotal moments of their season, with the club's challenge being to identify the players Gian Piero Gasperini genuinely needs without repeating the improvised mid-season dealings of the past. The summer window closed with at least two unresolved issues, perhaps three: a full-back, preferably left-footed, an attacking winger capable of giving bursts of pace and depth, and, despite the club's own assessments, a fifth central midfielder. The central midfield is probably the most underestimated concern. Manu Koné, Bryan Cristante, Marten de Roon and Niccolò Pisilli form a reliable unit in quality terms, but four players for two places, considering the Champions League, Serie A and the Coppa Italia, is a fairly thin resource. Roma's recent admission that a forward-thinking winger of real pace is the priority, recognising a gap that already emerged at the end of the summer market, was described as an important acknowledgement, since it means the club and the coach have identified a precise need. The question now is whether they can meet it without simply buying someone. January is not July. There are no summer training camps, no preparation weeks and no time to teach Gasperini's football from scratch, a system that demands reading of the game, physical condition, timing and a willingness to sacrifice. Anyone who arrives must be ready almost immediately, because the risk of signing a player who only understands the system by March is far from remote. The experience of Zaragoza and Venturino, signed in a hurry last year and sold just as quickly this summer, should have taught the club something. Those deals were meant to add attacking options but produced a contribution below expectations. What is needed is not necessarily another Grenier, a player brought in to fill a line on the team sheet without really changing the team's possibilities. Better one right signing than three alternatives destined to remain just that, especially as Roma have shown they already have a competitive structure and need to be completed rather than rebuilt. The problem is that this time the calendar will not even allow the luxury of waiting. From 2 to 31 January, Roma will play nine matches across Serie A, the Champions League and the Coppa Italia. The first three come in just eight days: Frosinone on 2 January, Venezia on 5 January and Milan on 9 January. Then comes Verona in the cup, Atalanta, the decisive European fixtures against AEK Athens and Lille, Udinese and Monza. The sequence could steer three competitions at once, making it essential to reach the restart after Christmas with all available resources. The market opens on 1 January, but D'Amico believes the work must be substantially completed well before then. Waiting until the final days to save money could leave Gasperini without reinforcements just as points start to matter more. Equally, rushing through profiles that are not fully convincing simply to present them at Trigoria in the first days of the month would be just as dangerous. That is the balance to strike: being in a hurry without being rushed. Gasperini has shown he can develop a squad built around his ideas, but also that not every player is automatically suited to his style, so January's business must be built on shared choices rather than last-minute opportunities. Roma have already lost too much time in the past trying to correct the mistakes of the previous market. This time they must do something different: complete what works. A reinforcement arriving on 3 January can change a season; the same player arriving on 31 January could find a Roma that has already played nine decisive matches. And certain opportunities, once missed, cannot be recovered with a signing.