Roma Have Two Names For Their Midfield But Only One Might Arrive

Written By Onyeka Daniel

After the announcement of a fine from UEFA for Italian Serie A side, AS Roma, it is now time to go about the business of strengthening the team for their new manager, Gian Piero Gasperini ahead of the upcoming season and it is definitely going to be a tough one.

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Thanks to the fine, they would be operating on a limited budget and this would greatly impact how much the capital city club can move in the transfer market, but so far, they’ve continued their pursuit of a midfielder, as the latest offer for Richard Rios is only €5m off the Palmeiras valuation.

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The Giallorossi are trying to revamp their squad to suit the tactical ideas of new coach, and that means quite a few changes in midfield. There are two main targets right now, with the club trying to keep both talks on track, waiting to see which can be completed first.

The first choice is Rios of Palmeiras, and now Sky Sport Italia suggest the latest proposal has closed the gap between offer and demand (€25m plus €5m in add-ons) while the asking price is set at €30m plus bonuses. This might have reduced the difference significantly, but won’t be sufficient.

Hence, they’re now considering other options and have reportedly agreed personal terms with another target, Neil El Aynaoui, but just like the first choice, it would be hard to convince his club, RC Lens to agree a sale for under €30m, though, negotiations are also in progress.

This new development was confirmed today when El Aynaoui played 45 minutes of a pre-season friendly against Standard Liege, with coach Pierre Sage telling reporters “if he had been ready to leave, he wouldn’t even have played a minute of football today.” He replied.

There is also a possibility that Roma sign the two players, but one of them will have to be on loan, or if they manage to offload another player to fund the move. In a related development, Udinese have reportedly offered their goalkeeper, Maduka Okoye to Galatasaray and are asking for €15m.

According to transfer pundit Ekrem Konur, the shot-stopper has been proposed to the Turkish Super Lig side this summer, although any negotiations are still at a very early stage. It Is hardly a surprise that the Fruilani are eager to get him off their books, considering he was just last month deferred to the disciplinary commission for sporting fraud.

The Nigerian who has 18 senior caps for his country and made the move from Watford to Udinese in 2023 is accused of purposefully receiving a yellow card for time-wasting at the 64th minute of a Serie A match between Udinese and Lazio in March 2024.

Authorities had flagged suspicious betting activity around the card, which generated over €120,000 in winnings for punters based around the city of Udine. Okoye and three friends were placed under investigation, and if found guilty of sporting fraud, he risks a four-year ban.

Read Also: New Names Added To The List Of Strikers To Potentially Replace Mateo Retegui

Hence, it is almost likely that any interested club like Inter, Bournemouth and Torino would want to wait until the investigation is concluded before making a move and as for Galatasaray, their search for a keeper is well known as they’ve already made enquiries for Inter’s Yann Sommer, Milan’s Mike Maignan and Roma’s Mile Svilar

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