Mario Rui, Juan Jesus, Fazio and Vermaelen; the transfer market for Roma so far has been driven by desire and necessity. The next goal of Sporting Director Walter Sabatini is to try to secure the services of Torino’s Brazilian full-back Bruno Peres. Coach Sinisa Mihajlovic will play the 26-year-old from the start in today’s Coppa Italia tie against Pro Vercelli in place of the injured Zappacosta, but the Serbia tactician has made it clear he prefers the former Atalanta man to Peres.
 

The gialorossi have been on the case of the player since last summer, when they had to surrender to President Urbano Cairo who built a wall too big for the capital club to scale. Today, the patron has set the price at €20 million, a figure that could certainly invite bids before the August 31 deadline. Roma needs an alternative to Florenzi to allow the Italian international to return to his natural position in midfield. It will be crucial however, for the club to overcome Porto in the Champions League play-off and progress to the group stages to free-up some more capital with around €25 million available if this can be achieved. The next two weeks could now shape Roma’s remaining summer transfer activity.

Steve Mitchell @barafundler