Roma fans certainly aren't alone in thinking that their club has the best academy in the world. After all, with players like Riccardo Calafiori, Davide Frattesi, and yes, even the likes of Lorenzo Pellegrini and Alessandro Florenzi, the halls of Trigoria have produced some tremendous talents over the years. While they've certainly had their share of misses, developing footballers is ultimately a numbers game—recruit, sign, and develop as many promising talents as you can and hope that a few pan out.
In that context, Roma's developmental approach is similar to that of, say, the New York Yankees. Each club scours the globe in search of players with specific attributes they hope to cultivate into finished products, a spectrum that can include future global icons, reliable starters, role players, journeymen, and, yes, players who fall off the radar entirely.
Running a successful academy is really a crapshoot. While the process has become more refined as training and scouting methods have improved, you never truly know how a player will turn out. Still, everything is easier when you strike gold with a Primavera product. From total payroll costs to transfer expenditures to predicting future roster spots, winning the prospect lottery makes life more manageable at the senior level.
With 11 of these U-23 countdowns under our belt, we've seen the range of developmental outcomes unfold in real time. Players like Calafiori, Pellegrini, and Leandro Paredes have flourished, while promising young talents such as Juan Iturbe, Ezequiel Ponce, and Tin Jedvaj never reached their potential. Meanwhile, players like Nicolo Zaniolo, Justin Kluivert, and Roger Ibañez showed early promise before settling into journeyman roles.
Time will tell where our latest U-23 group stands on that spectrum, but we're beginning our 2025 lineup with the kids who just missed the top 10. This year's list got a bit crowded with a fresh wave of U-23 talent ready to be shaped and moulded by Gian Piero Gasperini. Therefore, these Honorable Mentions are more victims of circumstance than anything— their drop reflects roster competition more than a depreciation in talent.
With that in mind, let's take a quick look at the kids who just missed....
Riccardo Pagano
Our 9th-ranked prospect last year, the 20-year-old midfielder, spent last season with Serie B side Cantanzaro. Unfortunately, the Tivoli-born Pagano struggled to find a foothold with the other Giallorossi last season, logging only 967 league minutes. He did contribute two assists, and his underlying numbers, especially in progressive carries and successful take-ons, were promising.
Pagano will return to Serie B in 2025, spending the season on loan with Bari.
Luigi Cherubini
Another midfielder from the Trivoli section of Lazio, Cherubini, made the most out of his loan to Carrarese last season. In 34 appearances (20 starts), Cherubini built on a successful Primavera career by scoring three goals and providing five assists in his first full season as a professional footballer.
A pacy winger connected with a host of clubs this summer, Cherubini's future with Roma remains uncertain. But whether he becomes a building block for Gasperini or merely transfer fodder to acquire a more established player, Cherubini is one to keep an eye on this season.
Filippo Reale
A 19-year-old Roman-born center-back, Reale was a workhorse for Roma’s Primavera last season, leading the club in appearances and minutes played. A left-footed defender known for his cerebral approach to the game, Reale was one of a handful of youth players to join Gasperini's pre-season training camp. Now, that doesn't necessarily mean he'll make his senior debut this season, but he's already on Gasperini's radar, which is definitely a promising sign.
Buba Sangare
A surprise signing last summer, the young Spanish full-back spent most of his first season with Roma at the Primavera level. In 13 appearances totaling about 1,100 minutes, young Buba scored one goal and provided an assist. In that sense, the book on Buba remains light. Still, his physical traits, especially his stature, quick feet, and agility, are enough to make scouts take notice.
Still a few days away from his 18th birthday, Sangare has more time to develop and could complement or eventually replace last month's marquee signing, Brazilian full-back Wesley.
We'll end our Honorable Mentions with a shout-out to last year's number three prospect, a player with a bright future, even if it remains a bit murky by Roma/Serie A standards.
Edoardo Bove
Having turned 23 in May, Bove would have just made the cut for our countdown, which includes players aged 23 and under by opening day. However, as we're all too painfully aware, his placement on our silly little countdown is the least of anyone's worries.
After a controversial loan to Fiorentina last season, Bove started strong with the Viola, starting 11 of 12 matches while scoring one goal and providing two assists. Just when it seemed like Bove was establishing himself in Florence, disaster struck when he collapsed on the pitch during a match against Inter Milan on December 1, 2024, after suffering what appeared to be a cardiac event. Fortunately, after quick medical attention on the field, Bove recovered and was eventually fitted with an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD).
This device, designed to prevent fatal arrhythmias by delivering a shock to restore normal heart rhythm, is currently banned in Serie A. This leaves Bove with two options: A) If medically advisable, have it removed and continue in Italy, or B) secure a transfer abroad to a country where restrictions on ICDs do not exist (e.g., England, Germany, or France).
Bove is a tremendous talent and an easy player to root for, so join us in wishing him the best as he faces an uncertain footballing future.
That's it for our Honorable Mentions, but stay with us as we kick off this year's countdown in earnest later this week!
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