“We discussed their ideas. We’re well aware of the Financial Fair Play situation for the next two transfer windows, but there’s a strong club and strong owners who want to invest in Roma, perhaps in a more sustainable way than in the past. Above all, they want to take Roma high. That was more than enough for me to get a good impression.”
During any introductory press conference, you expect the incoming manager—in this case, former Atalanta architect Gian Piero Gasperini—to touch on the basics: tactics, incoming transfers, what excites him about his new club, and so on. What you seldom hear, however, is the manager speaking directly about his new employer’s Financial Fair Play issues. It was refreshing to hear that Roma didn’t hold back with Gasperini when discussing the club’s financial limitations.
While it’s important to discuss which players Gasperini wants to recruit for this new assignment, it may be wiser to focus on how Roma will meet their FFP requirements before June 30th. In that light, our time might be better spent discussing the Giallorossi’s latest sacrificial lambs rather than dreaming about what Matt O’Reilly or Maxime De Cuyper would look like in Roma colors.
Roma will make several purchases this summer, but to clear that FFP hurdle, they’ll need to raise approximately €60 million by the end of this month. New Sporting Director Ricky Massara can take a significant slice out of that by selling Evan Ndicka to any number of Premiership clubs. Still, before he dangles the big fish, sources in Italy claim the club will focus on a trio of smaller sales first: Saud Abdulhamid, Eldor Shomurodov, and Leandro Paredes.
Paredes, 30, appears poised to sign with Boca Juniors in a €3.5 million move, returning to his native Argentina to conclude a career that has taken him from Roma to St. Petersburg, Paris, and back to Roma again. Shomurodov, meanwhile, is being courted by Basaksehir in the Turkish Super League. Additionally, Adulhamid has attracted interest in France, with Toulouse and Lens keen on signing the 25-year-old full-back on loan for next season.
These sales alone won’t come close to meeting that sixty-million threshold, but with Angeliño’s move to Saudi Arabia on ice (or at least shelved until the conclusion of the Club World Cup), Roma has no choice but to scramble.
