Cast your mind back to February 2024, a simpler and, some might say, more innocent time in the Romaverse and the world at large. Okay, not really, but our dear old AS Roma was wallowing in seventh place in the league table and had recently sacked José Mourinho, replacing him with club legend Daniele De Rossi. Even though they were buried in the middle of the standings, Roma boasted a respectable +12 goal differential and were just four points away from the top four.
What Roma needed was a shot in
the arm, someone to lighten the load on Paulo Dybala, Romelu Lukaku, and Lorenzo Pellegrini in the final third. And if that someone was young enough to develop around, all the better. Roma got all that and more when they acquired Tommaso Baldanzi from Empoli on deadline day in a €11.5 million transfer.
Baldanzi has struggled to break into a crowded rotation since arriving 18 months ago, and while he might not be at Roma for much longer, but there’s still a lot of potential in his legs, and he clocks in at number four in this year’s Top 10 U-23 Countdown.
Number Four: Tommaso Baldanzi
Age: 22
Position: MF
Shades of: Paulo Dybala, Papu Gomez, Sebastian Giovinco, Roberto Baggio senza coda di topo
Who Is He?
Since he’s been here such a short time, there’s no need to reinvent the wheel, so we’ll turn to Jimmy’s profile of Baldanzi last summer:
Tommaso Baldanzi is a Tuscany-born Italian midfielder who has made his way through the Italian youth system and found himself in Rome after over a dozen years with his hometown club, Empoli. While he always had hype during his progression through the Empoli youth system, it was the 2022/2023 season where Baldanzi established himself as one of the most exciting young Italian players out there.
During his debut season with Empoli, he scored four goals in 1,772 minutes. While that doesn’t jump off the page, the important context is that those four goals placed the young Italian third on Empoli’s scoring charts for the season. The diminutive attacking midfielder was also high in Empoli’s rankings in key passes, shot-creating actions, and goal-creating actions.
Since arriving in the 2024 winter transfer window, Baldanzi has made 59 appearances in all competitions, starting only 19, while adding two goals and one assist.
What Can He Do?
Answering this question will require a fair bit of projection because, as you can see, he’s struggled to establish a consistent role since arriving in Rome. Still, Baldanzi is an extremely talented player, shaped in the mold of a traditional Italian attacking midfielder – not quite a trequartista but definitely not a run-of-the-mill midfielder. With his low center of gravity and clever left foot, Baldanzi excels in the spaces between the lines and half spaces in the final third, where his vision, close control, and dribbling enable him to place precise final balls or unfurl a shot at a moment’s notice.
Thanks to those skills and his ability to play in an up-tempo, vertical attack, Baldanzi excels when he receives the ball in those small half spaces and quickly assesses the defense before exploiting its weaknesses with his dribbling, combination play, and acceleration. Without the ball, Baldanzi can be a master manipulator, where the threat of his left foot and quick release influence defensive structures and movements–stick close to him, and the man on the ball will beat you, but give him too much space, the next thing you know, he’s running onto the ball and into the box.
If Baldanzi were a bit taller and stronger, we’d be looking at a game-changing trequartista. Still, as it stands, he has the ability to manipulate defenses, shoot from any angle, deliver precise passes, and make sharp off-the-ball runs. All while playing with a manic style that seems perfect for Gasperini’s approach.
What Can He Become?
This is where things get tricky. If we extrapolate everything we just discussed, Baldanzi seems like a reasonable facsimile of Paulo Dybala, a smart and aggressive left-footed attacker who glides past defenses with ease. He can still develop into that player, but the real question is whether or not Roma will reap the benefits.
With transfer rumors swirling, Baldanzi’s future might lie outside Rome, with clubs like Bologna rumored to be interested in the 22-year-old Tuscan. But if Baldanzi finds a club willing to give him 3,000 minutes per season over the next year or so, he has every chance of becoming a Paulo Dybala-like player—maybe not quite as flashy, but still highly effective and the kind of player opponents must respect.
