Stadium expansion could boost revenue 40%, Svilar warned of €60m bids, Messi farewell best saved for holiday time

Roman radio stations aired opinions on three key Roma stories on 28 September 2026. Piero Torri of Manà Manà Sport (90.9) predicted that a new stadium would transform the club's finances. 'Today could be an important day for Roma's stadium,' Torri said. 'There should be final approval, then it will be up to Roma to build it and deliver it quickly. It would be a guarantee of revenue growth that would bring you closer to the elite of European football. There is an absolute need for the stadium, otherwise everything becomes complicated. For starters, you would no longer pay the rent on the stadium, which is several million euros. Plus there will be around a hundred suites that cost a lot of money to purchase for a year, and those can guarantee you 10–20 million euros a year. You could increase revenue by 30–40%.' Other commentators assessed Roma's recent decisions. Lorenzo Pes of Tele Radio Stereo (92.7) discussed the transfer of Gianluca Romano and a potential return for Francesco Totti at the 2027 centenary. 'On Romano, things have turned around: from a phenomenon he has become a flop,' Pes said. 'I hope the policy of rejuvenation continues, even if it means tough evenings like the one the other night. The road is long and uphill, but at least it is a road to travel. Totti? There is certainly coolness in relations with Roma, but I will leave a small door open for the centenary.' Francesca Ferrazza of Tele Radio Stereo (92.7) addressed a report about Francesco Totti's image rights and Roma's sale of shirts bearing his number 10. 'Roma has put the proceeds of shirts sold with the 10 in the accounts,' Ferrazza explained, 'and at that point Totti's legal team contacted Roma to discuss it. That is a different issue, because presented that way it looks as though Totti is obsessed with money.' Roberto Pruzzo of Radio Radio (104.5) praised Emanuele Lulli's display in a friendly match in England, saying the defender 'seems like a lad who deserves it' in Roma's context. Nando Orsi of Radio Radio (104.5) defended the loan of Romano to Spezia, noting that player development often takes time and that scouting errors must be minimised.

Roma and the representatives of Emanuele Lulli are in talks over a contract renewal, with his current deal set to expire on 30 June. Luca Ferri reported the development on Radio Bruno, signalling the club's intention to tie down the defender before the deadline arrives. Andrea Verdenelli, speaking on the same station, expressed his frustration at Niccolò Pisilli's continued absence from Italy's senior national squad, calling it unacceptable given the midfielder's performances for Roma. Roberta Pedrelli also highlighted a significant day for Roma's stadium project, suggesting the administrative process could be completed, clearing the way for construction of the new facility to begin.

Francesco Totti's path to a formal return to Roma remains blocked after three meetings between the club and his representatives failed to reach agreement. The most recent discussion, less than a month ago and attended by the new chief executive Galantic on Roma's side, did not produce the breakthrough both parties had hoped for. With the club's centenary celebrations approaching and events already being organised with the Circo Massimo set to play a central role, Totti's participation has not yet been confirmed. A range of issues divide the two sides. Economic questions remain unresolved, as does the definition of any structural, operational role Totti might hold at the club beyond a purely ceremonial function at the centenary events. The negotiations have also surfaced a specific commercial dispute: Roma has continued to sell replica shirts bearing Totti's name and the number 10 since his retirement, generating substantial revenue that Totti says he has not received in royalties. According to the figures cited, approximately 15,000 such shirts were sold in the 2025–26 season alone, with the total from 2018 to the present day running to hundreds of thousands of pieces. This issue will need to be resolved as part of any new agreement. Totti's ambition extends beyond a ceremonial centenary role; he is seeking a structured, operational executive position within the club—a demand that, like the others, remains outstanding.

Santiago Castro is preparing for a key phase of his Roma career after the international break, armed with encouragement from Francesco Totti and a fresh Argentina call-up. The 21-year-old Argentine forward has made an immediate impression since joining the club, hitting two posts and building strong rapport with the dressing room, though he has yet to open his account in giallorosso. Castro is now with Argentina, where he has returned following his sole previous call-up in March 2025, during which he did not take the field. His manager Gasperini will hope to deploy him as an additional attacking option alongside Donyell Malen and Paulo Dybala, who are considered undroppable. Castro deliberately chose Roma despite knowing the calibre of the competition for places, and the intensity of October's fixture list may provide his breakthrough moment. Last autumn at Bologna, he scored three goals and supplied one assist across a 30-day span at the start of the season, establishing a template for what is possible. He will miss Argentina's friendlies against Bolivia, Burkina Faso and Benin in the coming days but will return only three days before Roma's trip to Como alongside fellow squad members Leonardo Balerdi and Matías Soulé. Castro, who was recommended by Totti, faces competition from Lautaro at international level but shows no sign of being daunted by it. The premature nature of his return will limit his recovery time, though the calendar's demands may force Gasperini's hand in rotating his forward line.

Lorenzo Pellegrini is being considered as a new option on the left wing for Gasperini after regaining form over the past week. The midfielder is targeting a starting place against Como when training resumes, and will be trialled in the role that has lacked a settled incumbent. So far, Matías Soulé has been the primary choice with 353 minutes played, while Rodrigo Mora has featured for 187 minutes. Vincenzo Pincolini, the historic athletic trainer under Arrigo Sacchi at Milan, identified insufficient intensity as a key problem in Italian football. He cited Roma–Inter as a rare positive example of the standard required: "A match the likes of which you see only a couple of times in the entire season in our league. The intensity was extremely high." Pincolini referenced Paulo Dybala's performance with specific praise: "When did you last see him run like that? It is no accident that one of the two teams is coached by Gasperini." The trainer argued that narrowing the gap with foreign football depends above all on "training more". Francesco Totti received special tributes from friends, former teammates, supporters and sports figures. Roma released a video celebrating some of his greatest moments, while messages arrived from Roberto Gualtieri and Gianni Infantino. Former player Zago recalled an amusing detail: "In the middle of the night he started shouting, 'Give me the ball, give me the ball'. Then they explained to me that he often talked in his sleep."

Emanuele Lulli has made a remarkable impression in little over a month, overturning the squad hierarchy and earning the complete confidence of coach Gian Piero Gasperini. The nineteen-year-old from Palestrina has delivered an overwhelming start to the season, in some respects unexpectedly: last summer he was on the verge of joining Avellino on loan, but Gasperini's direct intervention halted the departure. After the exit of Romano, Roma were unwilling to let another academy product leave, and Gasperini chose to back the teenager's qualities. Lulli has started in four of Roma's first five league matches, sitting out only the clash against Inter, and has also appeared in the Champions League fixture against Fenerbahçe. With his contract expiring on 30 June 2027, Lulli has become a cornerstone of Roma's present and future plans. The club intends to move quickly to secure him, and discussions are expected to open soon. His agency represents Lorenzo Pellegrini as well, a shared connection that should smooth negotiations between the parties once a meeting is arranged. Meanwhile, the club is mapping out contract renewals across the squad. For key figures such as Pellegrini and Paulo Dybala, final assessments will be made later, likely towards the end of the season. The situation is also open regarding Pierluigi Gollini and especially Mario Hermoso, whose current agreement lacks the automatic renewal clause that was present in his previous contract, necessitating fresh talks between club and player.

Gian Piero Gasperini has made wing play central to Roma's football, and the club is working to maximise the impact of their flanks ahead of the league's resumption. Wesley, the Brazilian who has been the most brilliant performer in recent months, is recovering from an ankle distortion near the end of summer training and a subsequent muscle problem, and is using three weeks of focused work at Trigoria while sitting out national team duties to return to peak fitness for the match against Como. On the opposite flank, Nahuel Molina is asserting himself with force. The Argentine returned to Serie A with four years at Atlético Madrid and a World Cup winner's medal in his record, and has integrated quickly into Gasperini's system. He has played against both Torino and Inter, showing versatility as a left winger in the 3-4-2-1 formation, cutting infield onto his stronger foot and coming close to goals while already recording one assist. Beyond the summer transfers, a major surprise for Roma is nineteen-year-old Emanuele Lulli. Though he caught Gasperini's attention in the previous season without being a primary Primavera player, the young right-sided defender has carved out important space through pace and attacking boldness. The club is working to secure him with a meeting scheduled soon between the management and his representative to discuss a contract renewal that expires in June. With Devyne Rensch completing the full-back contingent, Gasperini has all the tools to unlock Roma's flanks.

Gian Piero Gasperini has steered Roma to the top of Serie A after four wins and a draw in his opening matches, accumulating 13 points alongside Inter and Lazio. The coach, who guided Roma to third place and Champions League qualification in the 2025-26 season, has introduced three key innovations that have reshaped the squad's identity. The first centres on the fullback role. Despite having four right-sided options available in Molina, Rensch, Lulli and Wesley, Gasperini has stabilised Wesley on the left flank, instructing him not only to attack but to drift infield to link play with teammates. Gasperini explained the reasoning: "There was an idea to sign a left-footer, but not having one is no problem for me. Like in attack, we can have inverted wingers." The second innovation is Gasperini's ability to reshape the team mid-match without predetermined patterns, including reorganising the defence on tactical impulse. In Roma's clash against Atalanta, he changed two-thirds of the back line to overturn a deficit, saying: "When you go behind you rarely think about changing at the back, but we were struggling and fresh energy there put the ball back in our hands." Beyond the pitch, Gasperini has transformed the handling of the Roman environment—traditionally a source of complex pressure. He has repositioned supporters' enthusiasm as a motivational force, stating: "The city is everything, it motivates and stimulates you. The Olimpico always full is wonderful, it gives you positive pressure." At Trigoria training ground, he has fostered an atmosphere where players want to be: "There is an environment here where you have pleasure in coming. I am in love with this group."

Gian Piero Gasperini is working to revive Roma's attacking threat from the flanks, with Wesley, Nahuel Molina and Emanuele Lulli forming the core of his wide-play strategy as the club emerges from the international break. In Gasperini's system, fullbacks and wingers are consistently among the key elements, tasked with generating pace, width, numerical superiority and offensive presence. After an opening stretch of the season in which some of these players have struggled to reach their best form, the break provides an opportunity to reset this crucial area. Wesley was one of the most incisive performers in Gasperini's system last season, scoring five goals thanks to the freedom to attack from the flank opposite his stronger foot. This year, however, his start has been complicated. A muscle problem forced him to miss international duty, followed by an ankle injury sustained a week before the league campaign began. Those two setbacks prevented him from starting the season at full fitness. Missing out on national team selection due to fatigue has, though, gifted him three weeks of training at Trigoria that could prove invaluable. The goal is clear: to have Wesley at his best for the match against Como. When fit, his accelerations from either flank transform Roma's offensive structure and force opponents into deeper defensive positions. Gasperini is not reliant on Wesley alone. The transfer market has brought him Nahuel Molina, who has returned to Italy after four years with a wealth of additional experience and a World Cup winner's medal. After early substitute appearances, the Argentine has begun to secure regular playing time and was firmly established in the team hierarchy before the international break. Against Torino and Inter, Gasperini deployed him on the left in a 3-4-2-1 formation, exploiting his ability to cut onto his stronger foot and make an impact in the final third—a tactical solution already used with Wesley that could become one of the new Roma's most interesting variants. Molina has already provided an assist and come close to scoring multiple times, a sign that he is quickly absorbing the role's demands. Rather than a mere alternative, he has the potential to become another genuine starter in a zone of the pitch where Gasperini tolerates no passive interpreters. The biggest surprise has come from within. Emanuele Lulli, only nineteen years old, has been among the most-used players in this opening stretch on the right flank. His running ability, personality and willingness to attack space make him an almost natural fit for Gasperini's football. His performances have convinced the club to work on a contract renewal for terms expiring in June, with a meeting with his agent scheduled soon. Devyne Rensch completes the squad as a more balanced and reliable option. Roma has not closed the market with an additional winger the coach wanted, but now possesses a much deeper pool: Wesley, Molina, Lulli and Rensch. Not all have yet reached the same level of fitness or integration, but the principle is clear—Gasperini intends to inflict damage from the flanks once again as his side seeks to regain momentum after the break.

Gian Piero Gasperini is building Roma around a fluid squad model of roughly twenty starting-calibre players, where internal competition remains constant and selection shifts based on form. Konstantinos Koulierakis, Rodrigo Mora and Santiago Castro—costlier than €100 million combined—have accumulated just 323 minutes so far, but retain strategic value in a squad lacking depth for the season's demands. The trio face stiff competition from Roma's in-form performers. Gasperini has prioritised players delivering consistently strong displays: from Mile Svilar in goal to Donyell Malen in attack, and the defensive leaders including Paulo Dybala. The manager is studying Koulierakis, Mora and Castro carefully to find the right moments for insertion. Mora's opportunities depend on competition with Dybala and Matías Soulé, while Castro could complement Malen in a dynamic attack. Koulierakis awaits his opportunity, currently blocked by Leonardo Balerdi's growth and Mario Hermoso's solidity at the back. These represent significant investments reflecting the club's ambition to elevate standards and give Gasperini multiple solutions for a long season filled with commitments.

Mile Svilar holds both Belgian and Serbian passports, yet today he has no national team to call his own. The Roma goalkeeper, now a regular fixture in Italian football's top tier, finds himself trapped by a regulatory paradox born from a decision made in 2021. Svilar rose through Belgium's youth system from Under-15 onwards, but on his father's advice accepted a call-up from Serbia in 2021 and made his senior debut in a friendly against Qatar at Debrecen, entering the match only as a substitute. He believed the friendly nature of the fixture would leave the door open for a future switch back to Belgium. When he later expressed his wish to represent Belgium, however, FIFA intervened. Having completed the entire Belgian youth pathway before choosing Serbia at senior level, the rulebook prevented him from changing federations again. The result: Serbia no longer calls him up, Belgium cannot call him up. So one of Roma's most important players sits out every international break. The timing has never been more acute. Thibaut Courtois recently decided against playing the full Nations League campaign for Belgium, creating a temporary gap in their goalkeeper hierarchy. Under different circumstances, Svilar would have had an enormous opportunity to fight for the position. Instead, he remains at Trigoria. His Roma form has only strengthened. Since Daniele De Rossi promoted him to number one, Svilar has recorded 48 clean sheets, equivalent to 38.4 per cent of the matches he has played. He has developed into a commanding presence through his personality, distribution, and one-on-one reading, and his footwork has improved markedly—attributes that have made him fully compatible with Gian Piero Gasperini's aggressive football. For Roma, the paradox offers a small silver lining: Svilar remains in the capital during international breaks, working with the staff and avoiding travel and fixture fatigue. For the player, though, it remains a painful situation. Two passports, two possible national teams, none available today—all because of a choice made in 2021, when he thought a brief appearance in a friendly would not permanently close a door. That door has stayed firmly shut.

Mile Svilar, Roma's standout goalkeeper, is trapped in a FIFA eligibility deadlock that has permanently blocked him from playing for either Serbia or Belgium. Born in Antwerp to a Serbian family, Svilar progressed through Belgium's youth system before accepting a Serbia call-up in 2021 for a brief appearance in a friendly against Qatar in Debrecen. Under FIFA regulations, that appearance—combined with his previous youth football for another nation—prevents a second change of federation. Belgium's federation attempted a legal challenge to equate his situation to Brahim Diaz's case, but FIFA rejected the appeal. With Serbia unwilling to select him and Belgium unable to, Svilar has lost a significant opportunity, particularly now that Thibaut Courtois has stepped back from international duty under Belgium manager Mark van Bommel. Despit the closed international door, Roma hold firm in their reliance on their defensive cornerstone. Svilar's statistics document consistent growth: since becoming first-choice under former manager Daniele De Rossi, he has registered 48 clean sheets, keeping a clean sheet in 38.4 per cent of matches played. Beyond his shot-stopping and low-range distribution work—decisive this season against attempts from Geubbels, Simeone, Muriqi and Bisseck—the 1999-born goalkeeper has shown marked progress in ball control and organisation of his defence. Without international commitments, Svilar's focus remains entirely on Serie A and Champions League fixtures in giallorossi colours.