Under the presidency of James Pallotta, the Giallorossi squad has constantly evolved and lacked stability. The process will continue under Monchi and Eusebio Di Francesco as they try to keep the side from the capital near the top of Serie A
The world’s football giants are known to create stability as well as possessing the desire to succeed in the best way possible and the best teams are often associated with continuity and consistency.
Roma are a well-supported club but they are not a team that has won many accolades and stability is something they lack on the pitch.
The Giallorossi squad is expected to have a different look about it in the 2017-18 season with new sporting director Monchi arriving from Spanish club Sevilla as well as former Sassuolo tactician Eusebio Di Francesco replacing Luciano Spalletti as coach.
After the previous Serie A campaign ended and prior to the transfer market officially opening on July 1, the Lupi were completing deals to sell some key players for high transfer fees, contradicting Monchi’s claim that “Roma is not a supermarket.”
It seems that the 48-year-old is remaining faithful to the methods that served him well when he was at Sevilla by acquiring players at cheap prices and then selling them for huge profits.
So far he has sold rapid winger Mohamed Salah to Liverpool for €42 million plus €8m in bonuses, central midfielder Leandro Paredes to Russian giants Zenit St Petersburg for €23m plus €4m in bonuses, and versatile defender Antonio Rudiger to Chelsea for £29m (€32.9m).
Paredes was not an established player but he was a reliable contributor when the opportunity arose while Salah and Rudiger were key personnel in attack and defence respectively.
Covering those losses has been a reasonably quick process though. Twenty-two-year-old right-back Rick Karsdorp has arrived from Dutch giants Feyenoord for €14m plus €5m in bonuses while experienced defender Hector Moreno was acquired from PSV Eindhoven for €5m.
Roma youth team product Lorenzo Pellegrini was bought back from Sassuolo for €10m and the 21-year-old central midfielder is someone who is familiar with Di Francesco’s coaching methods.
Another addition to the midfield is French midfielder Maxime Gonalons, who was linked in the past with Napoli but the Giallorossi have bought him for just €5m. The spending is not expected to stop there because Turkish starlet Cengiz Under is likely to arrive from Super Lig club Basaksehir.
Reinforcing the attack has been Roma’s biggest problem so far because the Lupi have had trouble negotiating for Sassuolo forwards Domenico Berardi and Gregoire Defrel but Di Francesco is keen to bring them to the Stadio Olimpico.
The new Roma tactician is also eager to grant playing time to youth academy graduate Marco Tumminello, who started in the Lupi’s 8-0 victory against Pinzolo Val Rendena on Tuesday. The 18-year-old scored two goals in the first half of the friendly and the senior coach believes in his ability.
“He has excellent potential,” Di Francesco said of Tumminello at a press conference. “He has learned to play in a different system but he has been receptive.”
There is still time for Monchi to find the right footballers to suit Di Francesco’s 4-3-3 system, but it does not look likely that the Giallorossi will challenge for silverware.
Although Roma are still evolving as a squad, they will still be intriguing to follow as this experience should test Monchi and Di Francesco’s ability to deal with the demands of the Roman fans.
