Mourinho is not happy with Roma’s transfer work
Mourinho has worked with the top teams for nearly 20 years – Chelsea, Inter, Real Madrid, Chelsea again, Man United and even Tottenham. After such a luxury, which has become commonplace and a requirement against a backdrop of maximum tournament goals, to have a squad whose leading players, without the one untouchable Pellegrini, are Abraham, written off from Chelsea (without belittling the merits of last season) and Zagnolo, who survived two crosses (who also appears to be leaving for Juve) is a clear cause for sadness. Yes, The Special One knew where he was going and he hardly entertained fantasies of grandiose Roma transfers, but still, if not grandiose, then at least reinforcing Mourinho’s transfers are needed. Otherwise, the public gargling of the referees and their own players by the Portuguese will continue in the new season, in which the Wolves are waiting for the Europa League.
In the summer of 2020, Roma were bought by American billionaire businessman Dan Friedkin, and the most high-profile transfer at his reign was Tammy Abraham from Chelsea for 40 million euros, also of significance is the purchase of Gianluca Mancini from Atalanta (21 million) and Jordana Veretu from Fiorentina (18 million). The Roman club’s current priority is clearly to get into the top 4 of Serie A, and whether their current squad is suited to that task is a rhetorical question. The cost of the same Napoli squad, who got into the top 3 – 467 million euros, Roma estimated at 376 million. Jose has squeezed the maximum out of the available (6th place in the league and victory in the Conference League), and perhaps slightly exceeded the realistic expectations.
Now he needs at least a couple of players with a claim to the top tier, and Friedkin is capable of splurging, unless the club’s management team is fired up with the idea of taking out at the expense of the young and ambitious or panting like Klopp with Liverpool for years, building the team brick by brick without monetary salutes. Except that Mourinho is no Klopp, and Roma’s current lineup does not reach the level of the Merseyside squad in Jurgen’s prime. But the Portuguese is trying to present his current squad with attacking and entertaining soccer for all his love of defense. And the status of Roma, which until 2019 consistently ranked in the top 3 of Serie A, speaks for itself. The fans want a breakthrough, but expecting Juventus-style clouding from the league leaders and their own excessive luck is a one-time idea and not for competent managers. Roma have everything they need to make good decisions and take action.
By mid-July the Giallorossi only spent 7m euros on right-back Mehmet Celic from Lille, having also picked up 33-year-old Nemanja Matic from UEFA and young Benfica goalkeeper Mile Svilar as free agents. It may be too early to panic, because there is still enough time until the end of August, but everyone usually knows about high-profile transfers in May and June, and this practice has bypassed Roma. However, the Italian media represented by Сorrier dello Sport are already trumpeting that Mourinho is disappointed with the work of the club in the transfer market and openly informs the management about it. At the same time a specific person is named as the savior of the situation.
Paulo Dibala
The 28-year-old Argentine, who has long been nicknamed the ever-talented and ambitious, and is also gutless, has left Juventus at the expiration of his contract. It was announced in May, and there were hints from the Bianconeri management back in March, so there was enough time for those wishing to prepare and work on the signing of Paulo. Since the beginning of spring Inter were called the main contenders for the transfer of Dibala, but by July the weight of rumors about him has decreased. Then came Man United, Atletico Madrid and Arsenal. A few more big names could be added, but the stumbling block here lies in the demands of the player, who, for a moment, was the highest paid player in Serie A for 2022 – 1.13 million euros per month. And there is no reason for Dibala to lower his demands, by and large. If you remove the superficial and pejorative evaluation of this player, to get it into their squad will want 90% of top clubs, but only 10%, apparently, will be willing to pay him a sum greater than his salary at Juventus. Well, or at least repeat it, and the agents of the Argentine will obviously start the negotiations with the maximum rates.
And it is Paulo, according to some insiders, should reduce the fury of Mourinho. It is difficult to imagine that Roma would tighten their belts for the salary of this player, although anything is possible. However, according to these same sources, it is more likely that the Roman club would need a deal with the devil to convince Dibala’s side to move to their club specifically. Or multimillion concessions from the player himself, who can’t find a new team and misses the start of preseason. At the same time the agency fee adds weight to the pessimism, because the owners prohibit to spend more than 10% of the salary of the player on the payments to the players’ representatives. Mourinho, according to media reports, hopes that an exception will be made for the sake of Dibala. Roma’s deal to sign Paulo, against the backdrop of all these nuances, takes on a dim color and is only possible as a result of a solid jigsaw puzzle. And yet it’s potentially just what Jose needs. At least from a fan’s perspective. And it hardly needs Dibala, for whom Roma is a clear step backwards.
Rumors with Russian seasoning
On the positive side for Mourinho, it looks like he will get Isco who left Real Madrid. The media also mentioned Andrea Belotti (who left Torino as a free agent). Allegedly the coach has already talked to the Italian forward, who is now waiting for a contract offer. Also glimpsed was Jamez Rodriguez, now representing Al Ryan. The Colombian wants to return to Europe, and Roma appears to be one of the ideal options for the move. Goal found Wilfried Zaha of Crystal Palace to replace the departed Mkhitaryan for Roma – his value has dropped significantly since he could become a free agent in a year. The nonsense about Cristiano Ronaldo is best left alone, in fact, it has almost disappeared from the summary, because the eye-catching information about Roma for Russian soccer fans was thrown up, surprisingly, not by Russian insiders, but by Italian ones.
Everyone knows Gianluca Di Marzio on July 12 said that the club of Rome is in talks with Atalanta about the possible transfer of Alexey Miranchuk. Later La Gazzetta dello Sport said the Russian midfielder is on Mourinho’s short list only, and the priority for the Romans is the signing of Mario Pashalic. The Bergamas team also said they had not received any offers regarding Alexei from Roma. There is no value of any of the three pieces of news and Miranchuk can come to stan “Gelorossi” only if the club had no luck on the transfer market, or more precisely – out of despair. Alexey should move from Bergamo not to Rome but to conditional Verona or Salernitana. And certainly for Jose Miranchuk in the lineup will not be any different from Shomurodov, who came in loudly, but soon sat quietly and modestly on the bench.
The most likely and realistic looks the arrival of Belotti, Xames and Zaha to Roma, if we’re talking about more or less high-profile deals. Is that enough for the evil Moure? Probably not really. Rome needs a big name, and if not Dibala, the club should certainly make an effort to draft the Jose legend.
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