Raimondo, Romano, Vavassori: quando cedere i giovani non conviene (e quando invece è la scelta giusta)

Santiago Castro trained alone on Sunday while his Roma teammates took a rest day, continuing his push for regular playing time under head coach Gian Piero Gasperini. After Roma's match at the Olimpico, Gasperini granted the squad Sunday off to recover, with work resuming Monday — but Castro opted to train anyway, working with weights and bodyweight exercises as documented by his fitness coach Guido Viggiano. Castro watched Saturday's match from the bench as Gasperini selected other attacking options, a choice the article characterises as unremarkable given the Argentine forward's recent arrival. His independent training session underscores his determination to force his way into Gasperini's plans. The message is clear: Castro does not down tools even when permitted to rest.

Roma will operate with a skeleton crew at Trigoria during the twenty-day international break following the draw against Inter, with head coach Gian Piero Gasperini having only seven first-team players available for training and preparation. The available squad members are goalkeepers Mile Svilar and Pierluigi Gollini, defenders Mario Hermoso, Nahuel Molina and Devyne Rensch, midfielder Marten de Roon, and forward Paulo Dybala. Dybala will take a leave of absence during the break to travel to Argentina and participate in Leo Messi's farewell international match. All other players will be away on international duty with their respective national teams. To maintain training intensity and match fitness, Gasperini will draw heavily on Roma's Primavera squad, though the youth sector has also lost several players to Italian national selections at Under 17 to Under 19 level, including Arena, Bonifazi, Giammattei and Guaglianone. The club has arranged a pair of friendly matches to keep the team sharp during the pause.

AS Roma will resume training tomorrow afternoon, but Gian Piero Gasperini faces a significant squad shortage across the next 20 days as just seven players remain at the club's Trigoria training ground. The available players are goalkeepers Mile Svilar and Pierluigi Gollini, defenders Mario Hermoso, Nahuel Molina and Devyne Rensch, midfielder Marten de Roon, and forward Paulo Dybala—who will himself be unavailable for several days to participate in Leo Messi's international farewell match. All other squad members are away on international duty with senior or Under-21 national teams. To maintain adequate training numbers, Roma will need to draw heavily on players from the Primavera academy. However, several academy prospects including Arena, Bonifazi, Giammattei and Guaglianone are themselves unavailable, having been called up to youth international squads ranging from Under-17 to Under-19 level. The club has a pair of friendly matches scheduled during this period, according to Andrea Pugliese's report in La Gazzetta dello Sport.