Roma held preliminary contacts with powerful agent Jorge Mendes to inquire about Porto’s fullback Joao Mario. They could make an attempt in January if the price was right. He’s tied to his team until 2027, and they are an expensive boutique, Calciomercato informs.
The 23-year-old properly emerged two seasons ago and recently collected his 100th appearance at the club. He has 3 goals and 15 assists to his name. He accounted for 15 caps with U-21 Portugal but has yet to debut with his senior national team.
Roma filed the Joao Mario option away for January. They will assess how their own right-backs perform first. Rasmus Kristensen began with two shaky outings but shined against Empoli, causing a PK and providing an assist. He joined on a simple loan from Leeds United. They’d have to renegotiate if they wanted to keep him.
The Giallorossi also have Rick Karsdorp and Zeki Celik at the position. They were gettable but didn’t leave in the summer. Furthermore, they are eyeing Frederick Ronnow to potentially succeed Rui Patricio, the outlet adds.
Our Take on Roma and Joao Mario
Whether or not they’ll have to invest in the role hinges mostly on Kristensen, so everything is preliminary at this stage. He seems to have the right traits but was very tentative before the last showing. If they spend in January, it’ll likely be for Marcos Leonardo.
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