HORNCASTLE: Roma contemplate losing their crown jewels
Roma were fifth when Spalletti returned. They had won only one of their last 12 games and had been knocked out of the Coppa Italia by second division Spezia on penalties. Disillusion pervaded. The Olimpico was practically empty and while there were extenuating circumstances like striking ultras, Roma’s other fans were abandoning games.
On Sunday, almost 60,000 showed up and why wouldn’t they? OK, there had still yet to be an announcement about the future of captain Francesco Totti and, left in the dark, the fans turned out just in case it was their last chance to see him play at the Olimpico. Some of the ultras even came back, a decision which has divided the Curva Sud arguably as much as the plexiglass partition that they are protesting.
Aside from the Totti factor, there is something in the air around Roma. As the seasons have changed, the cold has turned to warmth. The mood is different. Fans believe in the team again and feel they deserve their support. Spalletti and the players have persuaded them with their performances to go out and buy tickets again and to see them in numbers in the stands must be of great personal satisfaction: the fruit of four months’ hard work.
Roma have lost only once under Spalletti and that was away at champions Juventus. Win on Saturday away at Milan and he will finish the girone di ritorno with 12 more points than his predecessor Rudi Garcia ended the girone d’andata. Inter and Fiorentina were both ahead of Roma when Spalletti was appointed. How they must rue the intervention of James Pallotta and Alex Zecca. Since then one has felt the whiplash of a 15-point swing. The other the force of a 20-point swing. Spalletti has left them eating dust.
Extrapolate his points per game average over an entire season and Roma would finish on 90 points, which offers plenty of encouragement for a title challenge next year. A third straight season as runners’ up to Juventus is not beyond them although it is out of their hands. They have to beat Milan at San Siro and hope relegated Frosinone do the improbable and stop Napoli at the San Paolo.
Otherwise, Roma will have to go through the qualifiers to reach the Champions League group stages and we all know how difficult that has proven for Serie A sides in recent years. Lazio, Napoli and Udinese have all stumbled at the first hurdle, unable to get up to speed in time, making the mistake of waiting to reinforce their team until prize money is guaranteed.
Matters are complicated further this summer by the European Championship, Copa America and the Olympics. Internationals will be reporting late for duty. But considering the position Roma found themselves in back in January, just to be in with a shout to qualify is a success.
How all this affects their transfer strategy remain to be seen. Speculation continues about the futures of Radja Nainggolan and Miralem Pjanic. If director of sport Walter Sabatini can, in his own cryptic words, wag his tail like a “tabby cat”, maybe both will stay.
Nainggolan was supposedly spotted meeting Chelsea’s manager-to-be Antonio Conte in a Rome hotel last week. He denied it, tweeting: “When I was in Montecarlo, they had be in London.” The implication being that they had got it wrong before and were wrong again. On Sunday, Nainggolan's wife Claudia posted on Instagram: “to next year.” Again this was taken to mean they will be in Rome next season. Sabatini, who was pictured outside Stamford Bridge last month, said in Perugia last week: “I don’t believe he’ll go because he has the desire to stay at Roma.”
As for Pjanic, the sword of Damocles hangs over Roma. There is a €38m buy-out clause in his contract and if anyone offers to pay it then it is out of their hands. The pressures on Roma are threefold. First, FFP remains a challenge because of the situation Pallotta inherited from the Seni family. It has improved. Roma are expected to eclipse Milan as Italy's second richest club in terms of revenue. However, it is still an issue.
Second, the club has decisions to make on whether to take up their options on Antonio Rüdiger [€9m], Stephan El Shaarawy [€13m], and Lucas Digne. From what Sabatini says each of them will be made permanent, aside from Digne unless PSG lower their asking price, which at the moment stands at €16.5m. Alisson, the Brazil international goalkeeper, is also joining for €7.5m.
Third, is whether Roma reach the Champions League or not and how they go about doing so. The lesson learned from the last six years is that when it comes to stick or twist, it’s best to twist. The easy thing for Roma to do would be to sell one of Nainggolan or Pjanic. They have cover. Kevin Strootman is back fit. Leandro Paredes has enjoyed an excellent season at Empoli and Gerson is due to figure in Roma’s plans for next season too. What's apparent, however, is Roma are determined not to let their best players go and will endeavour not give into the easy option.
Enter the tabby cat. These felines are cunning. No one ever really knows what they're thinking and while everyone assumes Nainggolan or Pjanic will go, Roma have other ideas. The first would be to sit down with Pjanic and re-negotiate his contract which still has a couple of years to run. A bump in wages in return for the removal of the buy-out clause wouldn’t go amiss and it’s hard to argue that he does not deserve it. Pjanic has combined for as many goals and assists [24] as Paul Pogba [24] this season and his free-kick prowess makes it easy to understand why Juventus are interested in activating the clause in his contract.
Next, Roma can try and cash in other chips. This was, presumably, what Sabatini was hinting at. It’s something they have done to great effect in the past. Last year Alessio Romagnoli and Andrea Bertolacci returned from successful loan spells and were sold to Milan for a combined €45m. Paredes and Antonio Sanabria, who has scored 11 goals for Sporting Gijon this season, including hat-tricks against La Palmas and Real Sociedad are likely to have generated interest.
It might be harder to shift Juan Manuel Iturbe and Seydou Doumbia. One imagines a buyer for Doumbia could be sourced in China. Then there is Adem Ljajic and if Inter don't make his move permanent, it would be a surprise if Milan or a Premier League club didn't get in touch. Roma have possibilities. They will exhaust them before Nainggolan and Pjanic [his clause permitting] are allowed to leave.
If they do manage to keep both, as Pallotta insists they will, perhaps Roma should consider changing their nickname from the Lupi to the Gatti Maculati. The Wolves are really Tabby Cats.
James Horncastle @JamesHorncastle
