
Gasperini: Roma numerically need more; market decisions rest with the executive
Roma closed their British pre-season tour with a 3–0 defeat to Brighton at the American Express Stadium on 8 August, following earlier losses to Cardiff City and a win over Newport County. Head coach Gian Piero Gasperini acknowledged a poor performance but stressed the squad's wider progress during the week's training in ideal conditions. Gasperini attributed some sluggishness to players returning from World Cup duty—N'Dicka, El Aynaoui, and Malen among them—and noted the squad felt disjointed as a collective. He highlighted Paulo Dybala's recovery and welcomed the imminent availability of Lorenzo Pellegrini, who becomes eligible to play in September after at least a month. On the transfer market, Gasperini said: "Numerically it seems to me that there is still a need for something, but you know." He pointed to changes already made—Molina arriving to replace Çelik (to be assessed on Tuesday), Castro coming in for Dovbyk, and Koulierakis joining to complete the defence—but emphasised that future signings depended on the club's chief executive. When asked about outgoing transfers, Gasperini deferred: "We have a chief executive, you should ask him these questions about what Roma can or cannot do. On numbers and market possibilities Roma passes to him." He noted D'Amico was pursuing "very young but also very important" players.


