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2019/20 Season

8K views 195 replies 16 participants last post by  Primo 
#1 ·
Fonseca to Roma official today.
 
#2 ·
Petrachi as DS seems done as well, Cairo pacified by a youth player. work should be done as soon as the mercato starts to make sure Fonseca has a full squad for the EL qualifications.
 
#4 ·
Petrachi, as you sure know now, was officially announced as the new DS. and it seems that our first piece of business, if you don't count selling Ponce, will be bringing Spinazzola from Juventus for Luca Pellegrini + 10m (Spinazzola was valued at 29m).

our other business seems to include:
selling Manolas for 36m to Napoli and then buying Diawara from them for 20m (18m+2m in performance bonuses).
buying Barella from Cagliari for Defrel + 35m, Inter can't match what we're paying and it now seems that Barella is open to moving to other clubs.
buying Bartra (CB) from Real Betis for 15-20m.
Dzeko to Inter but the deal keeps breaking and then reemerging.
Nzonzi missed his medical and that might signal his departure.
SES refused a 15m per season contract from China and is still negotiating his renewal with Roma (wants a raise to 4m per season and I personally think he deserves it).

not a bad start at rebuilding and it seems both Fonseca and Petrachi are on the same page (a midfield of Barella, Diwara and Pellegrini is enticing). I have a suggestion, if we do indeed sell Olsen, Keylor Navas seems out of favor with the arrival of Courtois, coming on his contract's last year, receives affordable wages, could be convinced to come here for first team action and can be had for around 10m. seems to me like a quality, experienced and low price cover for the next 3 seasons or more.
 
#5 ·
If we land a midfield of Barella, Diawara, Pellegrini, Cristante and Zaniolo we will be focking awesome. Agree, Keylor Navas is underrated and if he would come it would be a nice addition.

We need two new CB's, Bartra and some younger fast one would be ok.

Reading a lot that Petrachi is ruining this team, when i infact thinkk he does the opposite.
 
#6 ·
there is a Petrachi quote from his Torino days that actually fits the situation perfectly:
Gianluca Petrachi said:
It’s difficult to explain a project to fans, because they think from the gut. they want to go to the stadium every Sunday to celebrate. They don’t see the long term picture. I remember once I got into it with some fans who wanted us to extend a player’s contract because he was their idol. But, for me and for the coach [Gianpiero Ventura] that player had finished his story with Toro.

I was telling them: ‘This player isn’t part of our plans because he’s stretching the team by 40 metres [on the pitch].’ All this to say it’s up to us not to reason like fans, but be assertive and detached.
Ponce was a journey kid and he didn't show anything until he landed in Greece, his stats there are impressive but when you consider the league and watch the actual goals he was scoring, you wouldn't want him to be our sub striker let alone lead our attack. I have no idea why some people are upset about letting him go. not every youth academy product has to automatically be a success and a first team member.

fans want Luca Pellegrini to stay and become a world beater at Roma because he's a youth product and Romano, you have to root for that and if it comes with loyalty to the club, then those are the treasures that makes not winning any silverware easier. we have him, he is class and regardless of your money and accolades you can't have him. however we don't have the time or the finances to wait for him to become that player, we need a capable player now and Spinazzola is that player. lighting fast, good offensively and defensively and still relatively young, on the other hand the only negative is that he's had the same ACL injury Luca had it limited his play style a bit. also, we have a great LB prospect coming from youth ranks in Semeraro.

personally I would've sold Zaniolo for 60m if possible before the deadline to cover the deficit and finance some acquisitions and kept the core intact, while using fringe and unwanted players to generate extra revenue or as part of deals to acquire targets we're interested in.

fans need to understand that regardless of who the DS is we're gonna need to sell players every year to satisfy FFP until we secure more or better revenue streams.
 
#11 ·
Gerson and his entourage seem to do what they do best and are sabotaging the Moscow move. I guess they are still waiting on the fabled Barca move where he'll activate that ballon d'or clause in his contract.

also, we seem to be close to Mancini.
 
#13 ·
according to Petrachi, Barella has chosen Inter.
too bad since this is the first time since I started following Roma, I think, that we were financially strong arming a bigger team for a player.
 
#14 ·
Pau Lopez seems to be the GK we want, according to all the rumors, and it seems we will have to pay 20m for him plus forgo the 7m we would make if Real Betis ever sell Sanabria.

also, it seems rumors shifted from Higuain and his ridiculous price tag/wages to Madrid's Mariano Diaz. what do you guys think? or is it only the good doctor and myself left in here.
 
#15 · (Edited)
Dropping by almost every day, still a habit after all these years... just to lazy/tired to write anything. :tongue:

Barella went for a more "stable" environment or should I say coach. I wouldn't say this was our first "strong arming" against the big clubs. Just remember Iturbe and Schick... But maybe this would be the most reliable acquisition.

The midfield is quite covered, I really hope we sort out the defense and offense.

As for Pau Lopez, I have mixed feelings, didn't see enough of the guy, but I have to admit that I was on the Cragno bandwagon. It's a big sum and gamble for a goalkeeper that comes from another league...

Hope we dodge Higuain and realistically Diaz is also a gamble with the inflated price tag + salary. If Petrachi can do some magic and get him on loan + optional buy, then yes. But that's already sci-fi.

Almost forgot, really hope Žan Celar gets a chance this year.
 
#16 ·
Juventus got Dybala instead of Iturbe and Schick was a failed medical away from signing to Juventus. in the Barella case I think it's Conte who convinced him to join Inter.

there are rumors that Caligari are sold on Defrel and are willing to sell us Cragno next year if we give them Defrel now. I don't know if I'd wait and give Mirante the reigns next season, or jump on Pau who was recently valued at 35m and had Barca's attention and is requested by Fonseca.

Madrid aren't interested in any loan deals, they want to sell.

and finally, I think Celar is gonna be loaned to a Serie B team but I can't remember the source. and I'm ok with that because I think he needs a season or two of play time away from Roma to test him and before putting pressure on him.
 
#18 ·
Holy shit. Good for him.
 
#20 ·
Pau Lopez landed in Rome for his medical and the contract signing should be finalized soon, according to most recent reports he'll cost 20m plus giving up the rights to 7.5m from Sanabria's sales if Betis sell him.
 
#21 ·
we seem to be very close to Mancini, a 5m loan and an obligation to buy for 20m next year. reports also indicate that we've reached an agreement with Fiorentina for Veretout and are working on reaching an agreement with the player, either we're paying 10m + Defrel or 20m + 5m in bonuses.
 
#27 ·
and the pay structure to capture him isn't bad at all, Petrachi confirmed we'll be getting a second CB and he also confirmed that we gave up Sanabria's 7.5m to Betis in the Pau Lopez deal. it also seems like the deal for Vertout is almost done.
my guess is that we'll end up with a Toby (not gonna learn his last name until he actually signs with us) and Mancini as our starting CB pair and Spinazzola as our starting LB and Pau as our starting keeper.
 
#28 ·
right now our starting line up is looking like this:
Code:
            Pau Lopez
Florenzi-Mancini-?????-Spinazzola
        Veretout-Diawara
     Under-Pellegrini-Kluivert
              ?????
and, with the incoming CB and ST that the coach wants, it is very balanced. but with the list of players that are supposedly leaving:
Nzonzi
Gonalons
Deferel
Dzeko
Schick
Olsen

we are left with a very unbalanced bench.

let me get this out of the way first, I don't think Zaniolo is a winger or a striker and I don't believe that a player who's versatile should be counted as good enough cover for all the positions he can play.

so, we'll have a striker with no subs for him, only one right winger (unless we buy another one or a RB and push Florenzi forward), 5 AM players (Pellegrini, Zaniolo, Pastore, Coric, Antonuci) and only Cristante to cover for Veretout and Diawara, keeping in mind Cristante is a makeshift double pivot player.

IMO to solve this we need to keep Nzonzi, one of Deferel or Schick and sacrifice a few playmakers because they are surplus and to generate cash or to be used in part of deals. the question is, which ones?
 
#35 ·
BTW if we're really offering Dzeko + 30 million to Inter for Icardi (valuing Edin at 20 million in teh deal), why not sell Dzeko to Inter for 15 million and get Wissam ben Yedder from Sevilla for 40-50 million instead? he comes with much less drama attached and seems very well suited to Fonseca's tactics.
 
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