Roma hunt for capital gains ahead of UEFA deadline

Roma sent scouts to the Porto versus PSV match at the Estádio do Dragão while Gian Piero Gasperini's side beat Slovan Bratislava 4-0 at the Stadio Olimpico on Tuesday evening, according to Sport Witness, as the winter transfer window approaches. PSV won the match 1-0, and it drew interest from several Premier League clubs, including Everton. Everton are following Esmir Bajraktarević, a left-sided winger born in 2005 who is owned by PSV. It is not clear what the main purpose of the Roma mission was, but Sven Mijnans, an attacking midfielder born in 2000 whom Roma had already been tracking in the summer, is certainly among the profiles on the club's list, alongside Bajraktarević himself. The report comes as Roma look to strengthen the squad available to Gasperini ahead of the January window. TUTTE LE NOTIZIE GRATIS SULLA ROMA SUL TUO TELEFONINO – TELEGRAM TUTTE LE NOTIZIE GRATIS SULLA ROMA SUL TUO TELEFONINO – WHATSAPP

Roma scouts were among those watching Porto against PSV Eindhoven at the Estádio do Dragão in the Champions League, as the club keeps working ahead of the January transfer window to strengthen Gian Piero Gasperini's squad. Sporting director D'Amico is looking for talent to complete the attack and the wide areas, where a left-sided midfield winger is still missing. Scouts from Everton, Manchester United, Brentford and Nottingham Forest were also present, according to English outlet Sport Witness. Many talents featured for PSV as well as for Porto, who are coached by Farioli. Among the possible targets Roma are monitoring is Sven Mijnans, an attacking midfielder born in 2000 who had already been followed in the summer. Also on the list is Bajraktarević, a Bosnian left-sided winger born in 2005. Roma will keep working on these ideas in the coming weeks, as a side that has made a top start still needs reinforcements. Porto's young standouts also drew attention. Oscar Pietuszewski, a right-footed winger born in 2008, is very young. Alberto Costa, a 23-year-old full-back, was close to joining Roma in January 2025.

Roma are preparing to return to the transfer market in January, with the club's offensive shortage thrown into sharp relief by recent setbacks. Sporting director Tony D'Amico had already signalled new signings in the winter window, with the aim of strengthening the attacking department above all. The injuries to Paulo Dybala and Lorenzo Pellegrini, combined with a squad that remains numerically thin in the attacking areas, have made the need to act more pressing. The names still being linked are those that circulated during the summer market: Jamie Gittens of Chelsea and Jamie Leweling of Stuttgart. Both players continue to be linked with Roma ahead of January and are struggling to win playing time at their respective clubs. Attention is focusing in particular on an attacker capable of playing wide. Gasperini can count on Donyell Malen and Santiago Castro as his central options, but the latest injuries have further reduced the alternatives on the flanks. Rodrigo Mora, the only summer addition in the Roma attacking midfield, needs time to develop. Gasperini is nevertheless asking for reinforcements. The schedule and physical setbacks have shown how fine the margin becomes when several players from the same department are unavailable at once. January could therefore become an important window for completing the squad: not necessarily a revolution, but an attacking addition capable of adding quality and increasing rotation options for Gasperini.

Francesco Totti tops a new Transfermarkt ranking of the all-time leading goalscorers at individual Serie A stadiums, with 160 goals at the Stadio Olimpico. Two other current or former Roma players also feature in the list. Matías Soulé is placed 20th thanks to seven goals scored for Frosinone at the Benito Stirpe. Paulo Dybala, the all-time top scorer at Juventus's Allianz Stadium with 45 goals, makes up the third Roma name in the rankings. The ranking compares the players who have scored the most goals within a single stadium in the history of the top flight, placing Totti's Olimpico record at the head of the table.

Lorenzo Pellegrini faces at least two months on the sidelines after tests revealed a high-grade lesion at the distal musculotendinous junction of the semitendinosus in his right thigh, sustained against Slovan Bratislava. Recovery times will be assessed as the clinical picture evolves, but the midfielder could return in the first days of 2027. The setback adds to Roma's injury problems, following those of Svilar, Koné and Dybala. Roma continue preparations for their Serie A clash with Napoli on Saturday at 6pm at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona. Training took place at Trigoria, and there is positive news from Bryan Cristante, who has returned to regular group work despite visible strapping around his knee. The captain will be available to Gasperini for the match against the Partenopei and could even start from the first minute. Fans of both Napoli and Roma will be able to watch Saturday's match, valid for the eighth round of Serie A, free of charge on DAZN, including non-subscribers. Under the TV rights tender, five matches this season are being broadcast in free mode, and the Maradona fixture is among them. Supporters of both clubs need only log in following the instructions provided by DAZN to access the live stream. With the winter transfer window approaching, Roma have already begun identifying possible reinforcements for Gasperini. According to the English outlet Sport Witness, on Tuesday evening, while Roma beat Slovan Bratislava 4-0 at the Olimpico, several Roma scouts were at the Porto against PSV match. The fixture, won 1-0 by the Dutch side, also drew the attention of several Premier League clubs. Under observation are left-winger Esmir Bajraktarević, born 2005, and midfielder Sven Mijnans, born 2000, who had already been followed in the summer. On Rome radio, the Roma-Napoli fixture has been widely discussed. Luigi Ferrajolo told Radio Radio: "The absences of Koné and Dybala are heavy: Koné is the engine of the midfield and Dybala the inspiration. If Cristante can play, he can push Pisilli a bit further forward. Or Mora plays, hoping he wakes up a bit and makes a greater contribution." Alessandro Vocalelli added: "Roma have already passed some tests: not every match can be an exam. It is a stage in a journey in which the team must perform well, because it can help distance a direct Champions League rival. Physically he seems to be better, but Napoli have resources that make the match anything but simple."

Former Roma midfielder Angelo Di Livio, speaking to Retesport, said he likes the idea of playing Wesley further forward against Napoli, with Molina dropping deeper on the same flank. Di Livio believes Gasperini will be missing two important players, including Dybala, and he questioned Lorenzo Pellegrini's latest injury, asking what fault the player had for having to stop again. Di Livio said Cristante is not well and does not think he can start. He expects Gasperini to have prepared alternative plans in midfield to cover the absences. The attacking absences of Pellegrini and Dybala in the final third are what make the idea of Wesley further up the pitch appealing to him. Di Livio expects Evan Lulli...

Roma and Inter will meet on the pitch this Saturday as the Serie A leaders, but behind the fixture lies a stark contrast in how their respective owners build and sustain their projects. Gian Piero Gasperini's Roma have invested €211 million in player acquisitions since his arrival, while Cristian Chivu's Inter have spent €186 million—a gap of €25 million that illustrates the Friedkin Group's commitment to backing the sporting project despite UEFA financial fair play constraints. By contrast, Inter's ownership under Oaktree has prioritised economic and financial stability. The €211 million Roma figure spans the campaigns that began with Gasperini's appointment. In the 2025–26 season, Roma spent €86.5 million, with Wesley arriving for €25 million and Neil El Aynaoui for €23 million, alongside Robinio Vaz (€20 million), Jan Ziółkowski (€6.5 million), and several expensive loans including Donyell Malen, Bailey, Evan Ferguson, Daniele Ghilardi and Zaragoza. The acceleration came this summer: the Friedkin Group approved €124.5 million for 2026–27, comprising Santiago Castro (€35 million), Rodrigo Mora (€25 million), Malen's permanent transfer (€25 million), Konstantinos Koulierakis (€16.5 million), Nahuel Molina (€13 million), Ghilardi's purchase (€8 million), Marten de Roon (€1 million) and Leonardo Balerdi's loan (€1 million). The Porto agreement for Mora includes a further €25 million for 2027 or 50 per cent of any future sale. The contrast deepens when examining the wider impact on club finances. Since summer 2025, Roma's squad costs—including salaries, depreciation and loan fees—have risen by approximately €15 million, while Inter's have fallen by approximately €10 million. The Friedkin Group has covered losses through fresh capital injections, accepting red accounts to sustain sporting growth; Roma has not closed a profitable financial year since their 2020 arrival, with 2025–26 expected to end in loss. Oaktree delivered a €35 million profit in its first Inter season and is preparing to close the next year in the black. Both approaches remain valid: Chivu inherited a structured squad already competing at the highest level, while Gasperini was tasked with rebuilding after Roma's seven-year absence from the Champions League. Saturday's direct clash will test both strategies on the pitch. One club has chosen acceleration to close the gap; the other is maintaining competitiveness while reducing the squad's economic burden.

Roma's evolution under coach Gian Piero Gasperini has taken shape across two decisive fixtures—the Champions League debut against Fenerbahce in Istanbul on Thursday and a four-day-later trip to Turin against Torino—that showcase the impact of the summer transfer market overhaul steered by new sporting director D'Amico. In the first match, Roma's return to Europe's elite competition after a seven-year absence saw Gasperini field performers who had earned third place in Serie A. Against Torino, however, two summer signings started, with three more introduced during play as Roma secured a fourth consecutive league win. Despite missing three key players—Evan N'Dicka, Wesley, and Manu Koné—Roma maintained tactical identity and attacking threat at Turin, underlining how the summer reinforcements have strengthened the squad's reliability compared to the previous season. The shift in personnel tells the story plainly. A year ago, Gasperini would have replaced N'Dicka and Wesley with Kostas Tsimikas and Jan Ziółkowski; neither remains at Trigoria. Manu Koné's role would have gone to Neil El Aynaoui, who has been moved on after one season, as have Tsimikas and Ziółkowski. In their place came Leonardo Balerdi and Nahuel Molina, both Argentine internationals—Balerdi absent from last year's World Cup only through injury, Molina a Qatar winner alongside Paulo Dybala and recently a World Cup runner-up. Niccolò Pisilli, grown into his role at the start of 2026 and a national team player, has inherited Koné's midfield spot. Gasperini paired Balerdi immediately with Marten de Roon, who arrived from Bergamo in the final moments of the window and played more than half the second half against Torino. Lorenzo Pellegrini, called up after five months out, extended Gasperini's roster of captains—the coach has made clear he possesses multiple leaders beyond Bryan Cristante and Gianluca Mancini. Gasperini operates what he calls the "law of sixteen," seeking to deploy the same core of players in every match to guarantee brilliance, intensity and competitive edge. He refuses publicly to divide his squad into starters and substitutes; there is no difference between a player who begins and one who enters in progress. New sporting director D'Amico's tenure has produced a squad numerically smaller than its predecessor, as D'Amico himself acknowledged, yet Gasperini presented it at full strength in Turin. The article notes that one or two adjustments in January may be needed to perfect the squad further.

Roma's radio commentators dissected yesterday's victory in the context of the title race and squad depth, with particular focus on Leonardo Balerdi's impact and Rodrigo Mora's early form. Mario Corsi declared that only Roma, Inter and Como are serious contenders: "I'm not saying we win the Scudetto tomorrow, but it's real that there are Roma, Inter and Como. Full stop. But where do the others go…" David Rossi highlighted Balerdi's performance against the established order, saying: "I said this would take the place from N'Dicka, and yesterday he took it from him. How can Balerdi not be the starter on Saturday?…" Roma's campaign statistics drew praise—12 goals scored and just 1 conceded in the league so far—with Gianluca Piacentini observing that Roma have the best defence in Serie A, while Francesca Ferrazza identified European football as the decisive factor: "The discriminant for the Scudetto will be the Champions League. Roma, Inter and Como all play it—that's the key." Bareldi's defensive prowess dominated discussion. Piacentini described him as "maestro" and confessed: "I'm totally in love with Balerdi, and I'm developing a crush on Lulli." Mario Corsi compared him to Samuel, while Piero Torri acknowledged the central-back dilemma: "I believe Roma will buy him outright. He has everything: he's quick, strong in the air, elegant…the problem is he seems like a proper centre-back, and there's N'Dicka there." Sandro Sabatini expressed surprise at the overall squad calibre, asking rhetorically: "Is Balerdi, Roma's fourth defender, this strong? Is Pisilli, the fourth midfielder, this strong? And Lulli, unknown until mid-August, this strong? Roma are sending very important signals, both collectively and from individuals." Alessio Nardo noted the squad's transformation over the past year: "If a year ago you were missing N'Dicka, Wesley and Koné, you'd have played with a far less developed Pisilli, Tsimikas and Ziółkowski. Today you have new starters whom you now struggle to exclude." Roberto Pruzzo offered a critical take on Mora's play: "If he plays 20 metres from goal he can be decisive, but at 40–50 metres from goal it seems like a mess to me." Corsi defended the midfielder's early contribution: "Now I read a lot of criticism of Mora, but he arrived the day before yesterday…enough, let's wait. We need him a lot." Niccolò Pisilli drew praise for his performance in an unfamiliar role, while Marten de Roon impressed Lorenzo Pes: "He knows everything by heart, he's brought order and is an added value. He shouldn't be a starter, but at the right moments he knows how to manage traffic." Nando Orsi confirmed Roma's merit in yesterday's win but tempered expectations: "Roma clearly deserved to win, didn't thrill me like other matches, but that was predictable. We're only at the fifth game; I'd wait for the tenth, but if one of the two wins on Saturday there would already be a hierarchy." Gasperini was credited with instilling tactical intensity, with Corsi stating: "Gasperini has put a sporting nastiness into the players, and now they all run in a remarkable way." Roma face Inter in what multiple commentators framed as a title-defining fixture within weeks of the season's start. The squad's depth and injury management were identified as potential deciding factors in the campaign ahead.