The Roman Report — 17 August 2026 – 23 August 2026

There is something about the last week of August that makes a Roma supporter feel genuinely, helplessly alive again, and this particular week has given us plenty to feed on. The headline news is one that Giallorossi fans have waited for since Gasperini arrived and began drawing up his wishlist: Rodrigo Mora is a Roma player. The seventeen-year-old Portuguese, nurtured at Porto and already carrying fifty-two first-team appearances at that age, has completed his move to the Olimpico in a deal worth €25 million upfront, with Porto retaining half of any future resale — though Roma can buy that clause out for a further €20 to €25 million within the next couple of years. Jorge Mendes, never a man to undersell his clients, has inserted a €120 million release clause that tells you everything about how seriously both agent and coach view this talent. Dan Friedkin and Gasperini pushed hard to unlock negotiations that had stalled over loan structures, and the breakthrough between the 15th and 16th of August felt like a genuine moment — the kind that shifts a squad's trajectory. For more than a year Gasperini has wanted a right-footed attacker to play on the left flank, someone who cuts in, who arrives late, who gives the system genuine width and threat from that side. He has it now. The wait, for once, has a satisfying ending.

The broader context of the transfer window, though, is not quite so rosy, and if you've been listening to Radio Radio this week you'll know the mood among the pundit community ranges from cautious to frankly exasperated. Roberto Pruzzo's measured concern and Mario Mattioli's blunter frustration both point to the same truth: Roma have been discussing targets for two months and the list of arrivals does not yet reflect the ambition of the conversations. Pruzzo's assessment of the Dortmund friendly — Roma sharp for fifteen minutes, exposed at set pieces, Malen looking like a distant echo of the player who tormented defenders at PSV — feels honest rather than cruel. And his worry about El Aynaoui's tempo, about whether Molina's best days are already behind him at Atlético, are the kind of questions a club returning to the Champions League simply cannot leave unanswered. Mattioli's line was the most pointed of all: look at every name Roma discussed in June and count how many are here. The balance, he said, is zero. That stings, even if Mora's arrival changes the arithmetic somewhat.

What the Dortmund match did give us, amid all this noise, was the clearest possible reminder of why Paulo Dybala renewed and why this city adores him. A goal in the fourth minute, a corner that found Cristante's head for the second, ninety minutes of movement and invention, and a late free-kick that nearly won it — the man looks hungry in a way that a new contract sometimes extinguishes in players and here seems to have inflamed. Gasperini's challenge now is building a team around him without making Roma entirely dependent on him, because Pruzzo is right that a player of that brilliance cannot be expected to conjure something from nothing every single week. The Soulé question is genuinely complex: two left-footers who both want to drift infield from the right, jostling in the same channel, and Orsi on the radio putting into words what the Dortmund footage suggested plainly — it is difficult for them to play well together. Gasperini was seen coaching Soulé toward wider positions throughout the match, which suggests the manager sees a solution, but there is chatter this week that the Argentine could still leave before the window closes, with Endrick of Real Madrid mentioned as a potential arrival should that happen. I will believe it when I see it, but the rumour alone tells you the thinking in the building is not entirely settled.

With Mora almost certainly not ready to start against Fiorentina — he needs time to absorb the system, and Gasperini will not rush that — D'Amico's attention has pivoted sharply to the left-back position, and it needs to. Wesley is the only genuine option on that flank, and he is currently nursing a minor ankle sprain that will be assessed when training resumes at Trigoria on Wednesday. Rensch can cover but that is a sticking plaster, not a solution. The leading candidate to address this is Luis Henrique of Inter, a Brazilian who, despite being naturally right-footed, has apparently already approved a move from a tactical standpoint and can offer Gasperini flexibility across both flanks and in advanced positions. Cacciamani of Torino remains in contention — fresh talks are planned — though the gap between Torino's €20 million asking price and D'Amico's ceiling of €15 million including bonuses is significant enough to complicate things. Udogie of Tottenham is the loan alternative. There is genuine urgency here, because Fiorentina arrive at the Olimpico on Monday the 24th, sixty thousand supporters are expected to fill those stands, and a left side with Wesley either absent or compromised is a vulnerability any decent attacking side will identify within the first twenty minutes.

The injury picture adds further texture to the opening night calculations. Lorenzo Pellegrini will miss the Fiorentina game, which is a blow to whatever residual hope existed of starting the season with full attacking options. Pisilli's assessment on Wednesday will be watched closely; there is cautious optimism he will be available. Young Lulli made enough of an impression in Dortmund — seventy-eight minutes that convinced Gasperini to integrate him permanently into the first-team group — to offer some encouragement about the depth of the broader squad. Molina is expected to start against Fiorentina, which feels like one of the more interesting subplots of the opening night: Pruzzo has already wondered aloud whether we are seeing a player in decline, while the coach has shown clear faith in him from the first whistle. We will learn a great deal about that particular judgement very quickly.

Roma are not yet the finished article Gasperini has in mind, and this week's noise — the radio debates, the unresolved left-back hunt, the Soulé uncertainty, the lingering frustration at targets discussed and not delivered — is the authentic sound of a club in transition, pressing against a deadline with one eye on Monday and one on September the first. But there is also Dybala in the form of his life, a genuinely exciting young talent in Mora about to walk through the doors at Trigoria, and a coach who has already shown he knows how to transform a squad once he gets the pieces he needs. The Olimpico on Monday night under the lights with Fiorentina as the opponent and Champions League football on the horizon — after everything, that still feels like something worth getting up for.