Transfer window closes: Koné linked with Chelsea exit, Roma eye Mandela Keita

Roma's summer transfer window closed at 20:00 on 1 September after one of the longest and most active market periods in recent years. Sporting director Tony D'Amico oversaw a substantial squad rebuild across every department to meet the demands of head coach Gian Piero Gasperini. The club secured permanent deals for Donyell Malen and Daniele Ghilardi, and brought in Santiago Castro, Nahuel Molina, Konstantinos Koulierakis, Rodrigo Mora, Leonardo Balerdi and Marten de Roon. The signings added experience, physicality and talent to the squad, though the hunt for an attacking winger remained unresolved until the final hours. Roma's overhaul was equally significant in departures. Artem Dovbyk, Zeki Çelik, Angeliño, Neil El Aynaoui, Robinio Vaz, Matteo Baldanzi and Jan Ziółkowski left the club, alongside several young players and others outside Gasperini's plans. D'Amico remained active on business until the closing deadline, orchestrating a comprehensive transformation of the playing squad. The question now centres on whether Roma emerged strengthened from the window and whether Gasperini received a group capable of meeting his tactical requirements. The club invited supporters to vote in a survey assessing their satisfaction with the summer's work across incomings and outgoings combined.

Roma's summer transfer window has shut with a sense of missed opportunity, despite significant investment and a refusal by ownership to sell any key players. Head coach Gian Piero Gasperini has gone without the attacking winger he identified as his primary objective from the moment of his arrival—a player capable of operating from the left, beating opponents one-on-one, attacking space and destabilising defences. That position remains vacant after two transfer windows and an entire summer of pursuit, leaving the club's offensive department with an evident structural limitation. Despite clear improvement across the squad, the absence feels particularly acute because it was never a last-minute target or a late opportunity. Gasperini made the request for a left-sided winger his top technical priority. Financial constraints imposed by UEFA's settlement agreement complicated the sporting director Tony D'Amico's work, often forcing Roma to pursue unconventional formulas and abandon deals when demands proved unsustainable. Ownership did maintain the core: Mile Svilar, Evan N'Dicka, Wesley, Donyell Malen and other central project players remained. The squad's overall quality has grown—new players arrived, alternatives were added, and experience, physicality and talent were introduced. Rodrigo Mora, in particular, appears to be a shrewd acquisition: he possesses technique, imagination and the capacity to ignite a match with invention. Yet Mora is a trequartista, a creative force, not the external winger profile Gasperini sought. A true winger was needed—a player of pace and power, quick and capable of dribbling and attacking depth; someone to alternate with Mora rather than perform the same functions as the Portuguese midfielder. Roma faces a long season across the league, Champions League and Coppa Italia. Proceeding without that solution leaves Gasperini with a clear constraint in building the attacking unit. Uncertainty remains elsewhere too: Paulo Dybala transforms the team's level when fit, yet expecting him to complete an entire season without physical problems would be unrealistic. Lorenzo Pellegrini has returned as a first alternative in the left attack zone but is not a pure attacking winger and has endured complicated months from a physical standpoint. A player with completely different characteristics would have been not merely useful but necessary. The position of vice-Wesley—a left-back offering an alternative solution on that flank—also went unfilled. Roma gives the sensation of being very close to achieving a genuine quality leap. Early season displays have already hinted at this: the squad is stronger, more solid, more physical and possesses greater quality than before. The Friedkins invested, D'Amico changed much and Gasperini has a squad capable of competing at a high level. But when only the final puzzle piece seemed to be missing, that piece never arrived. The overall quality of the squad has grown and the market cannot be dismissed as negative; yet the most obvious shortfall cannot be hidden. The winger Gasperini awaited has not arrived. After an entire summer pursuing him, Roma closes the market with the unavoidable sense that this team could be even better.

Roma's summer transfer window closed on 1 September with no late moves for Leweling, Gittens or Luiz Henrique, but significant reinforcement across the squad. The most expensive acquisition was Santiago Castro, signed from Bologna for €36 million. Rodrigo Mora, a Portuguese playmaker born in 2007, arrived from Porto for €25 million in a deal balancing present strength with future investment. The defence received Konstantinos Koulierakis from Wolfsburg for €16.5 million and Leonardo Balerdi on loan from Marseille for a €1 million fee. Right-back Nahuel Molina joined from Atlético Madrid for €13 million. Marten de Roon, a player Gasperini knows well, came from Atalanta on a free transfer. Two squad members were also retained through permanent deals: Donyell Malen was bought outright from Aston Villa for €25 million, and Daniele Ghilardi from Verona for €8 million. Outgoings were largely managed without major upheaval. Zeki Çelik moved to Juventus on a free transfer, while Stephan El Shaarawy departed as a free agent after his contract expired. Mattia Mannini, a young defender, went on loan to Benevento with a right of redemption set at €1.5 million; Roma retained 30 per cent of any future sale fee. Angeliño moved to Deportivo La Coruña and Marash Kumbulla to Rayo Vallecano on temporary deals. Artem Dovbyk also left the club. Robinio Vaz and Neil El Aynaoui are reportedly heading to Hull City and Leipzig respectively, though those moves lacked official confirmation at the window's close. The restructuring touched every department. In defence, Koulierakis and Balerdi arrived while Ghilardi was secured permanently; Jan Ziółkowski and Kumbulla departed. On the right flank, Molina's arrival accompanied Çelik's exit and the departure of Abdulhamid, who returned from loan and left again. De Roon adds experience to Gasperini's midfield rotation, while Mora brings quality and unpredictability to attacking midfield. Castro represents the summer's flagship investment and joins Malen to reshape the forward line after Dovbyk and El Shaarawy moved on.