Oosterwolde to arrive today as Roma complete final puzzle piece; Fofana and Gittens remain in contention

Chelsea remain interested in Roma midfielder Manu Koné, according to Ben Jacobs, with the Premier League club reportedly wanting to add a midfielder in January. Koné is currently out with an injury and is expected to return after the international break, but he remains closely watched by top clubs across Europe. Koné joined Roma from Borussia Mönchengladbach in August 2024 on a loan with an obligation to buy, a deal worth €18m. His continued appeal to Chelsea underlines the attention his performances have attracted from elite clubs. Chelsea's interest is not the only pressure on the club's midfield situation, as the London side are also linked with other targets. Chelsea's other reported midfield targets include Scott of Bournemouth and Camara of Monaco.

Manu Koné remains one of Roma's most sought-after players, with Premier League clubs monitoring the French midfielder. He is currently sidelined with a first-degree injury picked up in the Champions League clash with Real Madrid, but his strong start to the season has not gone unnoticed at Chelsea. According to Ben Jacobs of GiveMeSport and TalkSport, the Blues consider him one of their main targets to strengthen their squad. Koné is not the only name on Chelsea's list. Camara of Monaco is also included, and most notably Scott of Bournemouth, who is reportedly Xabi Alonso's preferred option but is valued at around €100 million. After Chelsea's pressure this summer, a fresh attempt in January is not ruled out. Roma, however, have no intention of letting Koné go midway through the season, particularly in a campaign full of ambition and prospects.

Roma sporting director D'Amico is already working ahead of the January transfer window, with David Moses of Slavia Prague emerging as a target, according to Africafoot and Ekrem Konur. The aim is to broaden the squad available to Gasperini, who continues to request reinforcements in several key roles. Midfield is a priority. Recent injuries to Manu Koné and Bryan Cristante have highlighted the need for more alternatives in the department. Moses, born in 2002, is one of the fixed starters at Slavia Prague, who are currently dominating the Czech league. Moses's contract runs until June 2029, and his valuation is reportedly around €10 million.

Cristante is in Roma's squad for the trip to Napoli, according to the squad list published by Il Messaggero. Coach Gian Piero Gasperini is short in the final third, with Pellegrini, Dybala, Svilar and Koné all sidelined. He has only Mora and Soulé behind Malen, and is considering playing Cristante further forward. The squad list names Balerdi, Ghilardi, Hermoso, Koulierakis, Lulli, Mancini, Molina, N'Dicka, Rensch and Wesley in defence; Cristante, De Roon, Mora and Pisilli in midfield; and Malen, Soulé and Castro in attack. Camara and Di Nunzio are also listed. The situation is serious enough that Roma are expected to act in the January transfer window. The club must spend to give Gasperini at least two reinforcements between attack and the flanks. Gittens and Leweling remain on the list, and the club has not ruled out the complicated pursuit of Endrick. A new left-back name has emerged: Alejandro Balde of Barcelona, who is finding few minutes under Flick and has been offered by Jorge Mendes. His name joins that of Oosterwolde. Sky Sport reports that Roma are close to the final details of a contract renewal for Lulli, which would run to 2031. The deal has not yet been officially announced, and the last points must be settled before it is formalised. Speaking to Corriere dello Sport at the Amsterdam stop of the EA7 World Legends Padel Tour, Stekelenburg was asked about Svilar. He said: "If I had to put him in the top five... no, not yet. After all, there are Courtois, Neuer and others. But he is a young lad and he is doing an excellent job. He just has to keep growing." Asked to choose between Højlund and Malen if he were a sporting director, Graziani said: "Malen without thinking twice. Hojlund I like a lot, and sometimes he looks to me like a 'little Lukaku' the way he leads the attack and the physical battles he takes on, and he has a great sense of goal; but Malen is my ideal striker, for the way he attacks space, for his dribbling, for the acceleration he has in the last twenty metres and because he can roam across the whole attacking front."

Roma are reportedly eyeing a left-sided option, and Giallorossi.net's transfer column "Consigli per gli acquisti" has picked Union Berlin left-back Tom Rothe as its latest profile. The column is looking for a left-footed, athletic, physically robust player who can operate across the full flank in Gian Piero Gasperini's system, and Rothe is presented as fitting that brief. Born on 29 October 2004, Rothe is 21 and a natural left-footer standing 1.93 metres and weighing 85 kilos, which is unusually big for a flank player. He came through at St. Pauli and Borussia Dortmund, making his Bundesliga debut for BVB at just 17 and scoring straight away. After a loan spell at Holstein Kiel, where he finished with 4 goals and won promotion to the Bundesliga, Union Berlin bought him in summer 2024 for around 5 million euros. His natural position is left-back, but he can play as a wing-back and could be developed as a left-sided centre-back in a three. The article describes Rothe as more of a physical presence than a typical winger. He is strong in the air, holds his ground in duels and has a long stride, though he is not a pure sprinter, with a top speed of around 31.5 km/h. His main asset is the ability to run the flank continually, carry the attack and offer a physical presence in both phases. The writer argues this mix suits Gasperini's emphasis on one-on-one duels, and that at 21 he has considerable room to grow, so Roma would be buying a player to develop into a starter in the coming years. Rothe is not yet a finished product. He needs to improve the quality of his final pass, the accuracy of his crosses and his attacking one-v-one play. He creates more through physicality, running and runs into the box than through dribbling. He also had a fairly long lay-off between December and March last season. The article finds no pattern that would make him a particularly fragile player, but it is still an aspect to monitor. Union Berlin paid around 5 million euros for him, and his market value is now put at around 10 million euros. Taking into account his age, first-team status and potential, the German club would presumably ask for more, but the deal would still sit within a plausible economic range for Roma. One detail needs checking: when Union signed Rothe, Borussia Dortmund kept a buy-back right. Before any negotiation, it would be necessary to establish whether that clause is still valid and on what terms. The writer concludes that Rothe is not yet ready for a major European club, which is precisely what makes him interesting now. He is 21, left-footed, 1.93 metres tall, a regular in the Bundesliga and part of the Germany Under-21 set-up. Compared with Oosterwolde, he is less explosive but taller and has greater room for growth. The column wants to highlight young, physical players who remain affordable before they become too expensive.

Roma are reportedly considering Barcelona left-back Alejandro Balde as a January target to strengthen the flank, according to Il Messaggero. The club's January priorities are an attacking winger, with the club also looking at a wide midfielder or wing-back role. The interest in Balde comes alongside the possible arrival of Oosterwolde, who Roma agreed terms with before the deal fell through after he suffered a serious muscle injury. Balde is considered a perfect fit for the profile Gian Piero Gasperini wants in that position. He is not part of Hansi Flick's plans at Barcelona and has barely played for several months. Jorge Mendes, Balde's agent, could be an important ally in the negotiations. Mendes pushed last summer to bring Mora to Roma, and the super agent could therefore help facilitate this deal too.

Roma and Inter will meet on the pitch this Saturday as the Serie A leaders, but behind the fixture lies a stark contrast in how their respective owners build and sustain their projects. Gian Piero Gasperini's Roma have invested €211 million in player acquisitions since his arrival, while Cristian Chivu's Inter have spent €186 million—a gap of €25 million that illustrates the Friedkin Group's commitment to backing the sporting project despite UEFA financial fair play constraints. By contrast, Inter's ownership under Oaktree has prioritised economic and financial stability. The €211 million Roma figure spans the campaigns that began with Gasperini's appointment. In the 2025–26 season, Roma spent €86.5 million, with Wesley arriving for €25 million and Neil El Aynaoui for €23 million, alongside Robinio Vaz (€20 million), Jan Ziółkowski (€6.5 million), and several expensive loans including Donyell Malen, Bailey, Evan Ferguson, Daniele Ghilardi and Zaragoza. The acceleration came this summer: the Friedkin Group approved €124.5 million for 2026–27, comprising Santiago Castro (€35 million), Rodrigo Mora (€25 million), Malen's permanent transfer (€25 million), Konstantinos Koulierakis (€16.5 million), Nahuel Molina (€13 million), Ghilardi's purchase (€8 million), Marten de Roon (€1 million) and Leonardo Balerdi's loan (€1 million). The Porto agreement for Mora includes a further €25 million for 2027 or 50 per cent of any future sale. The contrast deepens when examining the wider impact on club finances. Since summer 2025, Roma's squad costs—including salaries, depreciation and loan fees—have risen by approximately €15 million, while Inter's have fallen by approximately €10 million. The Friedkin Group has covered losses through fresh capital injections, accepting red accounts to sustain sporting growth; Roma has not closed a profitable financial year since their 2020 arrival, with 2025–26 expected to end in loss. Oaktree delivered a €35 million profit in its first Inter season and is preparing to close the next year in the black. Both approaches remain valid: Chivu inherited a structured squad already competing at the highest level, while Gasperini was tasked with rebuilding after Roma's seven-year absence from the Champions League. Saturday's direct clash will test both strategies on the pitch. One club has chosen acceleration to close the gap; the other is maintaining competitiveness while reducing the squad's economic burden.

Roma's evolution under coach Gian Piero Gasperini has taken shape across two decisive fixtures—the Champions League debut against Fenerbahce in Istanbul on Thursday and a four-day-later trip to Turin against Torino—that showcase the impact of the summer transfer market overhaul steered by new sporting director D'Amico. In the first match, Roma's return to Europe's elite competition after a seven-year absence saw Gasperini field performers who had earned third place in Serie A. Against Torino, however, two summer signings started, with three more introduced during play as Roma secured a fourth consecutive league win. Despite missing three key players—Evan N'Dicka, Wesley, and Manu Koné—Roma maintained tactical identity and attacking threat at Turin, underlining how the summer reinforcements have strengthened the squad's reliability compared to the previous season. The shift in personnel tells the story plainly. A year ago, Gasperini would have replaced N'Dicka and Wesley with Kostas Tsimikas and Jan Ziółkowski; neither remains at Trigoria. Manu Koné's role would have gone to Neil El Aynaoui, who has been moved on after one season, as have Tsimikas and Ziółkowski. In their place came Leonardo Balerdi and Nahuel Molina, both Argentine internationals—Balerdi absent from last year's World Cup only through injury, Molina a Qatar winner alongside Paulo Dybala and recently a World Cup runner-up. Niccolò Pisilli, grown into his role at the start of 2026 and a national team player, has inherited Koné's midfield spot. Gasperini paired Balerdi immediately with Marten de Roon, who arrived from Bergamo in the final moments of the window and played more than half the second half against Torino. Lorenzo Pellegrini, called up after five months out, extended Gasperini's roster of captains—the coach has made clear he possesses multiple leaders beyond Bryan Cristante and Gianluca Mancini. Gasperini operates what he calls the "law of sixteen," seeking to deploy the same core of players in every match to guarantee brilliance, intensity and competitive edge. He refuses publicly to divide his squad into starters and substitutes; there is no difference between a player who begins and one who enters in progress. New sporting director D'Amico's tenure has produced a squad numerically smaller than its predecessor, as D'Amico himself acknowledged, yet Gasperini presented it at full strength in Turin. The article notes that one or two adjustments in January may be needed to perfect the squad further.

Roma's radio commentators dissected yesterday's victory in the context of the title race and squad depth, with particular focus on Leonardo Balerdi's impact and Rodrigo Mora's early form. Mario Corsi declared that only Roma, Inter and Como are serious contenders: "I'm not saying we win the Scudetto tomorrow, but it's real that there are Roma, Inter and Como. Full stop. But where do the others go…" David Rossi highlighted Balerdi's performance against the established order, saying: "I said this would take the place from N'Dicka, and yesterday he took it from him. How can Balerdi not be the starter on Saturday?…" Roma's campaign statistics drew praise—12 goals scored and just 1 conceded in the league so far—with Gianluca Piacentini observing that Roma have the best defence in Serie A, while Francesca Ferrazza identified European football as the decisive factor: "The discriminant for the Scudetto will be the Champions League. Roma, Inter and Como all play it—that's the key." Bareldi's defensive prowess dominated discussion. Piacentini described him as "maestro" and confessed: "I'm totally in love with Balerdi, and I'm developing a crush on Lulli." Mario Corsi compared him to Samuel, while Piero Torri acknowledged the central-back dilemma: "I believe Roma will buy him outright. He has everything: he's quick, strong in the air, elegant…the problem is he seems like a proper centre-back, and there's N'Dicka there." Sandro Sabatini expressed surprise at the overall squad calibre, asking rhetorically: "Is Balerdi, Roma's fourth defender, this strong? Is Pisilli, the fourth midfielder, this strong? And Lulli, unknown until mid-August, this strong? Roma are sending very important signals, both collectively and from individuals." Alessio Nardo noted the squad's transformation over the past year: "If a year ago you were missing N'Dicka, Wesley and Koné, you'd have played with a far less developed Pisilli, Tsimikas and Ziółkowski. Today you have new starters whom you now struggle to exclude." Roberto Pruzzo offered a critical take on Mora's play: "If he plays 20 metres from goal he can be decisive, but at 40–50 metres from goal it seems like a mess to me." Corsi defended the midfielder's early contribution: "Now I read a lot of criticism of Mora, but he arrived the day before yesterday…enough, let's wait. We need him a lot." Niccolò Pisilli drew praise for his performance in an unfamiliar role, while Marten de Roon impressed Lorenzo Pes: "He knows everything by heart, he's brought order and is an added value. He shouldn't be a starter, but at the right moments he knows how to manage traffic." Nando Orsi confirmed Roma's merit in yesterday's win but tempered expectations: "Roma clearly deserved to win, didn't thrill me like other matches, but that was predictable. We're only at the fifth game; I'd wait for the tenth, but if one of the two wins on Saturday there would already be a hierarchy." Gasperini was credited with instilling tactical intensity, with Corsi stating: "Gasperini has put a sporting nastiness into the players, and now they all run in a remarkable way." Roma face Inter in what multiple commentators framed as a title-defining fixture within weeks of the season's start. The squad's depth and injury management were identified as potential deciding factors in the campaign ahead.