Midfielders are to football managers what bags of mulch are to homeowners: They boost curb appeal, they’re far more expensive than you’d imagine, yet no matter how many (bags) you have, you can always use more. Even if their shed is fully stocked with midfielders of every variety, football clubs are always looking for potential improvements at the margins.
While they’re not necessarily seeking upgrades, Gian Piero Gasperini and the Giallorossi seem to be hedging their bets in case Manu Koné is sold
abroad. With the June 30th Financial Fair Play cutoff date looming and Arsenal and Chelsea reportedly preparing significant offers for the French midfielder, it’s only prudent that Roma prepares for life without Koné. The club may not be quite ready to cast Koné aside, but that hasn’t stopped the Italian press from recycling a name from last summer’s rumor mill.
According to Il Messaggero, Roma has circled back to Brighton midfielder Mat O’Riley. The 25-year-old Danish/English midfielder popped up last summer as a potential replacement for the recently departed Leandro Paredes, who returned home to Argentina after signing with Boca Juniors.
O’Riley is coming off a somewhat lost season, beginning the campaign on loan at Marseille before returning to Brighton in February. Between his two stops, O’Riley logged fewer than 1,000 league minutes, scoring two goals and providing two assists. While he can’t match Koné’s production (or talent), O’Riley was coveted by Gasperini and by new Roma Director of Sport Tony D’Amico during their time at Atalanta.
Signing O’Riley won’t garner many headlines, but he would certainly raise the floor of Roma’s midfield. Or, to circle back to our original analogy, he’s not the expensive black mulch; he’s more like the natural wood chips: durable, dependable, and resilient.
