Desperate times call for desperate measures. After spending the entire summer chasing left-wing targets that were either too expensive, too controversial, or simply uninterested in joining the Giallorossi, Roma is still seeking a viable candidate to fill the sizeable vacancy on their left flank. With only 17 days remaining before Roma kicks off the new season against a dramatically improved Fiorentina side, time is of the essence.
With Roma’s latest target, Norwegian winger Antonio Nusa, reaffirming
his commitment to RB Leipzig, Gian Piero Gasperini’s options on the left are looking increasingly bleak. While Gasperini can always pivot formations and use Donyell Malen and Santiago Castro in tandem in a two-striker formation, or even use the former on the wing and the latter as a lone striker, that’s not an ideal use of resources.
There’s no way around it: Roma needs a genuine left-winger to complete the attacking puzzle. With the club unwilling to cross the €50 million threshold to acquire one and seemingly uninterested in bringing back Stephan El Shaarawy, it’s time to get creative. It’s time to call Jadon Sancho.
Unless you spent the summer of 2025 in a secluded, internet-less bunker, you’re likely familiar with Roma’s failed pursuit of the 26-year-old winger. You’re also likely familiar with his many flaws. After his rise at Borussia Dortmund, where he scored 37 goals and provided 41 assists in 92 league appearances between ages 18 and 20, Sancho failed to live up to the hype at Manchester United.
Saddled with poor performances and the weight of expectations after an €85 million move, Sancho managed only nine league goals for the Red Devils. His career at Old Trafford hit a new low in the fall of 2023 when he was dropped from the squad over a reported lack of effort and poor training performances.
The TL;DR was that Sancho bounced back and forth between United and Dortmund, with stops at Chelsea and Aston Villa along the way. While his stint at Villa was a disaster, Sancho’s stay at Chelsea during the 2024-2025 season offers a glimmer of hope.
In 2,415 minutes in all competitions, Sancho bagged five goals and nine assists, flashing the same potent combination of steak and sizzle that made him football’s next big thing during his early days with Dortmund:
Of course, we have to keep it 100, as the kids used to say. Not only did Chelsea refuse to exercise Sancho’s option from Manchester United, but they actually paid a £5 million fine to void the transfer after failing to agree on personal terms with the once-promising winger. Not wanting a player is one thing, but actively paying not to retain him is quite another—there’s no way to take the stink off that.
But now that Sancho has been served a slice of humble pie and is training with non-league side Flixton as he weighs his options, he may be ripe for the plucking. Without the hassle of transfer fees and competing suitors, Sancho could be a worthwhile, albeit imperfect, gamble for Gasperini and Roma.
The wrinkles are still there, of course, and his lack of defensive intensity won’t exactly win the hearts and minds of Roma supporters, but he is a viable reclamation project for Gasperini. Free from the strictures of being the club’s savior, Sancho could simply be a piece of the puzzle.
He may never regain the flash of his Dortmund form and appears to have lost the one-on-one ferocity of his youth, but this could actually play to his advantage in Italy. The highlight-reel plays may have disappeared for the moment, but Sancho’s ability to receive the ball under pressure, dribble through tight spaces, cut in from wide areas, and work combinations at the edge of the area could make him a suitable foil for players like Paulo Dybala and Donyell Malen, among others. This stripped-down version of Sancho could play well in Serie A.
None of this is to suggest he’s a perfect Gasperini player (he’s not), but he may be the ideal pet project for Gasperini. Given his ability to identify scalable skills in seemingly flawed attacking players, Gasperini could be Sancho’s last, best chance at resurrecting his European career.
