Roma intend to sign an attacker in January and are seriously considering bringing back Stephan El Shaarawy from Shanghai Shenhua, multiple outlets reported today, including Gazzetta dello Sport, and local newspapers Il Messagero and Il Tempo. The 28-year-old winger would return on a season-long loan and the clubs would then discuss the fee to make the transfer permanent in the summer.
Coach Paulo Fonseca recently lamented the fact that has had to rely heavily on Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pedro, as Carles Perez has not won him over, as he has appeared seven times in Serie A, starting just once.
El Shaarawy is earning over €15M per year in China, but his wages are about to be cut down to €2.5/3M because of the recently introduced salary cap, making the deal more sustainable for the Giallorossi. The attacker was about to return on deadline day after the departures of Cengiz Under and Justin Kluivert, but the deal fell through as Shanghai Shenhua asked for a fee to let him go on loan. El Shaarawy played for three-and-a-half season in the Italian Capital from 2016 to 2019, scoring 40 times in 139 appearances.
The publications add that the alternatives the Faraone are two players Fonseca is already familiar with: Everton winger Bernard, whom he coached at Shakhtar Donetsk, and former Dynamo Kyiv striker Roman Yaremchuk, who is now at Gent. However, the respective clubs both want at least €10M to sell them, while La Lupa is looking for a cheaper acquisition.