Hermoso's all-round season earns Roma defender a new contract push

Roma are among the clubs most interested in Club Brugge winger Carlos Forbs, according to the Belgian outlet Voetbalnieuws, as sporting director D'Amico looks to add an attacking winger for Gian Piero Gasperini in January. Before Roma's match against Sassuolo, D'Amico admitted he wanted to give Gasperini an attacking winger in the January window and had already started looking for the right profile. Alongside Bynoe-Gittens and Endrick, whose names were already known, Forbs has emerged as a serious target. The Portuguese winger is ready for the next step in his career, and his departure from Club Brugge in the summer is described as practically certain. A move in January is more complicated, but D'Amico could still open talks early to get ahead of the competition. Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham and Fiorentina are also tracking the 2004-born player. This season, Forbs has scored 5 goals and provided 8 assists in 14 appearances across the league and the Champions League.

Turkish newspaper Sozcu reported that Francesco Totti had taken a consultancy role in the sporting area at Fenerbahce, claiming he had met the club's president in Istanbul the previous day to discuss the details. Fenerbahce have firmly rejected the story, and the claims are not true, according to the club's official statement. According to the club's account, Totti is currently in Kuwait, and a stop in Istanbul was only a stopover during his journey. There was no meeting with the president and no agreement with Fenerbahce. The club issued a harsh official statement calling the report completely without foundation, and it criticised the media outlets that spread the reports without first verifying them. The Sozcu story was headlined "The football mind of Fenerbahce" and was subsequently picked up by other news organisations citing the same newspaper. Fenerbahce's statement, published on 9 November 2026, asked those outlets to act in line with journalistic principles and a sense of responsibility. Totti spent his entire playing career at Roma, from 1992 to 2017, scoring 307 goals, and his number 10 shirt has been retired by the club.

Fenerbahçe have strongly denied a Turkish press report that Francesco Totti is set to take a role in the club's football structure, calling the story "completely unfounded". The denial followed a report by the Turkish newspaper Sözcü, published on 9 November 2026 under the headline "The footballing mind of Fenerbahçe", which other outlets then picked up. In an official statement, the Istanbul club urged media organisations that had spread what it called false news without verifying it to act in line with the principles of journalism and a sense of responsibility. The original Sözcü report had claimed that the former Roma captain was very close to an operational role at Fenerbahçe, a club preparing a deep reorganisation of its sporting structure. According to that account, Totti had arrived in Istanbul the day before, where he was reportedly welcomed by the club's executives. Fenerbahçe president Aziz Yıldırım, who returned to lead the club last June, reportedly intended to renew the sporting organisation during the international break and ahead of the January transfer window. The proposed position was described as a football consultant, a figure who would contribute to sporting decisions and the building of the new project, rather than a purely ceremonial post. Details of any agreement had not been made public. The story carries particular weight given Totti's history with Roma. He played his whole career at the club until his retirement in 2017, then took a management role at Trigoria that ended with his resignation in 2019. A possible return to the club has been discussed several times since, without a definitive agreement being reached. A few weeks ago, in an interview with Corriere della Sera, Totti said: "If they need my knowledge of football, I am here", making clear he did not want a purely symbolic role. Totti has built several football-related ventures in the meantime, including CT10, a sports consultancy and management company, and It Scouting, an international scouting project. Those experiences could prove useful in any new Fenerbahçe structure, according to the report. The Sözcü story remains an unconfirmed rumour, and the club's statement has now firmly rejected it.

Roman radio pundits have been debating the Serie A title race, with several arguing Roma can genuinely challenge for the scudetto and that Lazio's surge should not be dismissed as a miracle. Rete Sport's David Rossi said the negative reaction after the Manchester defeat was undeserved by the club and by Gasperini. He said: "The negativity after Manchester was not deserved, neither by us nor by Gasp. Roma on Saturday offer another performance; they have become a team that always wins these matches. If you lose against the top 5 and win against the others, with a few draws here and there, you win the scudetto with ninety points… We not only win these games, we win them well." He added that against Sassuolo, Malen did not want to score and missed a couple of important chances, and that the first half could have been closed out 5 or 6 nil. Gianluca Piacentini, also on Rete Sport, discussed Kvernadze, who has a €4 million release clause in July, saying a January deal could cost between €10 and €12 million. On the Champions League race, he said Roma are in the mix, having reached the 11th matchday, alongside Lazio and Milan, which he said he did not expect. He noted that Napoli and Juventus are well behind. Piacentini argued that finishing second rather than fourth matters for the club's growth: "If you finish fourth you feel you have taken a step back; finish second and you have taken one forward. It is a matter of growth, so second is better than fourth." Checcо Oddo Casano, also on Rete Sport, praised the club's fitness record compared with other sides. He said: "Roma have held up well compared with other teams in terms of injuries. The work done by Gasperini and his staff is aimed at minimising injuries. Up to now, people who are always injured have stopped, such as Pellegrini and Dybala. Svilar has been unlucky with a broken foot, as has Koné… This squad runs, recovers, and we see a much more productive team than in previous years. This is down to better training. The intensity of the match is the result of the intensity of the weekly work. Competition for places has also raised the level of training, because no one is certain of his place." Mario Corsi of Tele Radio Stereo said this league is Inter and Roma, as it was at the start, and that Como can come back. He warned about Milan: "Be wary of Milan. Not so much this year, although anything can happen. Voices from Milan are talking about the January market, and beyond, they are also talking about next year. The madman (Cardinale, ed.) could build a team… I would not want Inter to win the scudetto this year and Milan next year." He added that Roma will do something in January, as the sporting director has said, and that Mora always scores, knowing where to place himself with an educated foot. Francesca Ferrazza, also of Tele Radio Stereo, praised Koné for turning down France, saying those matches do not count for much, and said Hermoso has become one of Gasperini's fixed points. She added that Gasperini had made his position clear, saying he will not sign for second place. Lorenzo Pes, also of Tele Radio Stereo, said the club now has a technical guide with clear ideas from the first day, and that Gasperini has accelerated the project. He said: "Now Roma have a technical guide with clear ideas from day one. For years we have heard about projects and building; now all of this has been accelerated by Gasperini from the first season. He has never hidden the real objective, which is to shorten the timelines as much as possible." Alessio Nardo, also of Tele Radio Stereo, said Roma should be among the top four and that finishing from fifth down would be a drama, adding that he would also be disappointed if Roma did not reach at least the Champions League playoff. Roberto Pruzzo of Radio Radio said Lazio play well and have an identity, and that they play only once a week, which helps them. On Roma, he said the side walk over weaker teams, and that Dybala, who has not played for two months, needs to be recovered. On Milan, he said they should leave Europe, as a double commitment would be a problem. On Mora, he said: "His growth is not something you see, because his height is what it is… joking aside, he still has half an hour of stamina." He said Mora is at his best against this type of team and becomes decisive in the final metres, though in other games he bounces and must be ready to be substituted after half an hour. On Hermoso, he admitted he had been wrong to think his career was finished, saying he had bounced back spectacularly. Nando Orsi of Radio Radio said he never doubted Roma would fight for the scudetto, and that Lazio are playing well with one match a week, describing them as a humble, convinced and empathetic side. He said: "It cannot just be a miracle; miracles do not last long. This is a team that must go all the way, or at least try. Napoli and Atalanta are far away." Mario Mattioli, also of Radio Radio, said Roma have more players but also more fixtures, while Lazio have a coach who is more realistic than the king in judging what happens on the pitch. He said: "I believe Lazio will last; whether they last longer than Roma, I don't know."

Former Roma striker Roberto Pruzzo has said Mora has around half an hour of energy in him and struggles when the level rises, speaking on Radio Radio Mattino (104.5). Pruzzo said: "Roma go for walks against the smaller teams, like Sassuolo. They could find something more from the market and from the recovery of Dybala, who hasn't played for months. Mora still has about half an hour of energy, and against teams like Sassuolo he goes to town. Then, when the level rises, he struggles more. In these games, however, he manages to excel and is sought out by his team-mates. He can carve out an important role." Pruzzo also revised his view of MATías Hermoso, admitting he had misjudged him. He said: "On Hermoso I have changed my mind: he has rebounded spectacularly, I had got my assessment of him wrong." Pruzzo's remarks came as Roma's form and squad options were being debated across the capital's radio stations, which he described as a phenomenon unmatched elsewhere in Italy. Fellow Radio Radio Mattino pundit Nando Orsi was equally bullish about Roma's title prospects. He said: "At the start of the season I had no doubts about Roma's chances in the Scudetto fight. They are simply confirming the predictions I made a few months ago."

Mario Hermoso has become one of the most surprising symbols of Gian Piero Gasperini's tactical revolution at Roma, having turned from a pure defender into a complete player who combines marking solidity with a striker's instinct. He is now an established starter, has earned the coach's full trust, and the club has moved to work on a renewal that would tie him to the giallorossi for the long term. According to Il Corriere dello Sport, his development is one of the masterpieces of Gasperini's work. Before a decisive meeting in July 2025, Hermoso's future looked uncertain. Since then his approach to the role has changed completely: aggressive and alert when defending, he becomes an extra attacker as soon as he crosses the halfway line. The numbers back this up. He has scored seven goals under Gasperini, three of them so far this season, including the strike that unlocked the match against Sassuolo. That output places him among the best goalscoring defenders in Europe, directly behind names such as van Dijk and Querfeld, and far surpasses what he produced in his years at Atletico Madrid. His impact is considerable, in some ways comparable to what Kolasinac had at Gasperini's Atalanta, but enhanced by superior technical quality and a more pronounced goal sense. In his thirteen starts he has, alongside his tackles and interceptions, made 120 entries into the opposition box and produced close to a thousand touches, a level of involvement no other Roma player matches. Gasperini described him as "cold as a number nine". Il Corriere dello Sport reports that such a high level of performance made it inevitable to address his contract. Now that the deadline tied to the Champions League clause has passed, Roma and the player are reportedly very close to an agreement running until 2029, with an option for 2030. Hermoso would also have accepted a reduction in his salary, following the example of senior players such as Mancini, Cristante, Dybala and Pellegrini. The gesture is a strong signal of both parties' desire to continue together.