Cast your mind back to last Saturday. Whether you were picking out new patio furniture, attending a graduation party, or just giving your lawn an overdue mowing, you likely felt a sense of unease silently stalking you as you carried out your weekend errands. That specter wasn’t a latent sign of an impending breakdown; it was something far more serious: Roma’s Champions League fortunes were on the line. On the road. Against an already relegated opponent.
It was page one from the Roma Happens script,
tailor-made to tear our hearts out. While 19th-place Verona certainly gave Roma a scare, the Giallorossi ultimately prevailed 2-0 thanks to second-half goals from Donyell Malen and Stephan El Shaarawy. In one fell swoop, Roma eased our collective pain, ended their Champions League drought, and finished in 3rd place for the first time in nearly 10 years.
positionGiven the enormity of that moment, it would have been perfectly acceptable for Roma to press pause for a week or so to celebrate this achievement. But the winds of change are moving swiftly through Trigoria. In addition to the usual cycle of transfer rumors, post-season awards, and bitter farewells, Roma made a significant change in the front office, parting ways with Sporting Director Frederic Massara, and will soon replace him with Gasperini acolyte Tony D’Amico, who held a similar positon with Atalanta.
Incredibly, D’Amico’s first move as Roma’s new DS could be wrapped up this weekend. According to the Corriero dello Sport, D’Amico will be armed with some €80 to €100 million during his first summer in charge; an enormous sum by Roma standards. And the first item in his shopping cart is reportedly Bayer Leverkusen’s Kerim Alajbegović.
An 18-year-old Bosnian combo forward who can play virtually anywhere in the final third, Alajbegović grabbed nine goals and three assists in his first season in the top flight, making 22 starts for Red Bull Salzburg in the Austrian Bundesliga. With the €25 million-rated attacker preparing for next month’s World Cup, this rumor could move quickly, as the CdS suggests that Roma wants to sew him up before the tournament starts to avoid a potential bidding war once the world catches a glimpse of his talents.
Alajbegović joins the likes of Joshua Zirkzee, Antonio Nusa, and Crysencio Summerville on Roma’s rumored shopping list, suggesting that a sizeable portion of their budget may go towards the attack.
So, while we await confirmation, take a gander at his highlights and let us know what you think: Is he the missing piece?
