Roma begin Cardiff pre-season camp with training and friendly against Cardiff City

Roma started their pre-season campaign in Wales on 1 August, with a morning training session at Hensol followed by a friendly against Cardiff City at the Cardiff City Stadium, kicking off at 15:00 (16:00 Italian time). All eyes were on Castro, who was set for his debut, while Neil El Aynaoui returned from holiday and is fully available for head coach Gian Piero Gasperini. The majority of the squad was available, with Robinio Vaz having recovered from injury and Niccolò Pisilli progressing in his rehabilitation and expected to rejoin the group in the coming days. The club's pre-season schedule continued with another training session scheduled for 2 August at the sports complex, open to supporters and media. A second friendly fixture against Newport follows on 3 August at 19:00.

Roma are intensifying their pursuit of Feyenoord left-back Givairo Read as they seek to strengthen their defensive options for head coach Gasperini. A Roma delegation travelled to Rotterdam yesterday to negotiate a deal for the 20-year-old, offering €25 million (€23m plus €2m in bonuses), according to Gazzetta dello Sport. Roma director D'Amico did not travel with the squad to Wales as he conducted his various rounds across Europe. Nottingham Forest are also in the race for Read, though their offer is lower at €19m plus €2m in bonuses. Nottingham have reportedly already agreed terms with the player on a five-year contract worth €20 million total — €4 million per season. Roma must now either match that financial offer or convince Read with a lower salary, potentially around €3 million annually, while dangling the possibility of Champions League football.

Marash Kumbulla has been excluded from Gasperini's plans at Roma and was absent from the squad that travelled to Wales on 31 July. The centre-back trained separately during the opening weeks of pre-season and did not feature in friendlies against Primavera, Trastevere and Cannes. Roma are looking to sell him to generate funds, with Spanish club Rayo Vallecano among those to have enquired. In recent hours, sporting director D'Amico proposed Kumbulla to Torino as part of a bid to lower the asking price for Cacciamani, but the Serie A side rejected the offer. Torino are asking for approximately 15 million euros and manager Abate has requested that Cacciamani remain at the club—he impressed alongside him last season at Juve Stabia. Angeliño is departing Roma, joining Deportivo la Coruña on loan with a purchase option set at 2 million euros. In Gasperini's setup, Kumbulla was earmarked to fill the space vacated by the Spanish full-back. The move for Cacciamani remains on hold, though Roma have not abandoned their pursuit of the 2007-born winger. Salah-Eddine is also unwanted under the new technical plan and remains without a club. An agreement between Roma and Olympiacos had been reached worth 7 million euros plus 1 million in bonuses, but the Moroccan player has not yet accepted the move. The coming hours are expected to be decisive in resolving his future.