Over the last week or so, Roma’s star attacker Erik Lamela has been linked with a big money move to Manchester City.
The Giallorossi reportedly rejected a £20 million (€22 million) offer from City for the young Argentine. These recent stories in newspapers and on TV have debated whether Lamela will stay in the Italian capital or leave for a bigger paycheck and the allure of English football.
Even though the money’s tempting, it would contradict a lot of what Roma’s new American ownership are preaching at the club.
Players such as Marquinhos and Daniele De Rossi have been at the centre of transfer rumours in the capital for the entire season. However, thanks to the permanent acquisition of Marquinhos, the Barcelona talk has calmed down.
Back in November when a De Rossi deal looked imminent, sporting director Franco Baldini denied all reports. If Lamela continues to appear on the front page of the Italian papers, Baldini (or someone else) will most likely play down all of the commotion. The reason for that is the same reason why neither Marquinhos or De Rossi have left and probably won’t; Roma won’t sell their star players, especially at this stage of the owner’s reign.
One of James Pallotta’s goals is to make Roma a perennial powerhouse in Serie A. He wants his side to be neck-and-neck with the likes of Juventus and AC Milan within the next few years.
This is why La Magica have purchased younger talent and have given youth academy products more minutes in the senior team. Lamela is one of those youngsters who’s tipped to be the spine of the club for at least the next decade.
Selling him would not only deprive the Giallorossi of arguably the best young attacker in Europe, but they’d have to then go out and find another replacement for him. Plus if he leaves, that means that it’d be harder to keep the likes of De Rossi. If Roma lets go of one of their supposedly indispensable players, then the door’s open for De Rossi’s to exit, too.
Selling Lamela would also mean that yet another blossoming player will leave Serie A. This is something that Italian football has going for it these days. Stephan El Shaarawy, Paul Pogba, Matteo Kovacic, Alessandro Florenzi, the list goes on.
Those are just a few of the many up and comers playing in Italy. Lamela is among them. Having one of the many starlets is a privilege, especially if a big club has one of them on their books.
Letting one leave for one of the top teams abroad would seem redundant, because as mentioned before, Lamela leaving would weaken Roma and strengthen a side who, like the Romans, have Champions League aspirations. Pallotta and Baldini aren’t stupid.
Erik Lamela may very well be a Romanista for life. It would be the right move for a young player on the cusp of greatness, plus the club gets to benefit from his brilliant performances game in, game out for the remainder of his career.
