The early stretch of the season has exposed the thinness of the Roma squad. José Mourinho has quickly cast aside most of the backups, especially after what happened against Bodo/Glimt. He has fielded the same exact XI in four matches in a row.
The outcome of the summer window has not been as positive as the Roma front office hoped. Rui Patricio has been the most reliable contributor, although he had a costly error against Milan. Tammy Abraham and Eldor Shomurodov had gotten off to a quick start, but they have bagged just five goals combined. Matias Vina has been rather up-and-down.
Roma will be busy in January as well, Corriere dello Sport reports. CEO Tiago Pinto is looking for new teams for Amadou Diawara and Gonzalo Villar, while Bryan Reynolds will leave on loan. The Giallorossi need to cash in on some departures in other to bankroll further additions. In particular, they aim to shore up the midfield and the defense given Chris Smalling’s extended absence.
The top executive will fly to London in the next few days to gather information on a few targets. On top of Dani Ceballos and Denis Zakaria, Roma are keeping tabs on Chelsea’s Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Tottenham’s Harry Winks, who are not been full-time starters for their respective teams. They have taken an interest in reuniting with Antonio Rudiger. However, there is plenty of competition since his contract expires at the end of the season. Mourinho also suggested Real Madrid’s Nacho as another veteran option.