Gasperini: De Roon? We have too many Argentine players, we need to balance the squad

On September 1st at 00:30 CEST Beijing time, Roma will face Lecce away in the second round of Serie A. Ahead of the match, Roma head coach Gasperini held a press conference. This article covers excerpts from that press conference.

Coach, hello. I have two questions. First, I'd like to start with De Roon, because no one is better positioned to comment on this player than you. He made 358 appearances for Atalanta, scored 19 goals and provided 26 assists, plus 61 appearances in international competitions. Why did you choose him? Roma just signed him – he just arrived – is there a story behind this transfer? Secondly, regarding the team's injury recovery. Apart from Pellegrini and Rensch, has everyone else recovered and returned to the squad?

Yes, I believe so, except for Pellegrini and Rensch. However, Rensch will rejoin the team for training on Tuesday, and I hope he can return to full squad training next week. Pellegrini will also start full squad training next week.

Regarding De Roon's transfer, it happened very quickly – essentially completed within 24 to 48 hours. He spent many years at Atalanta, but now found himself in a situation where he might no longer be part of the team's future plans. When this opportunity arose, I immediately contacted Luca Percassi. Given everything De Roon has done for Atalanta over the years, the club gave him complete freedom to decide his future, and we're very grateful to them for that.

De Roon himself was very eager to come to Roma, and for us, this was also a rare opportunity. It not only gives a player who wants a new experience and to play somewhere he can feel more fulfilled, but it also fills a gap we currently have in that position. Additionally, from a financial perspective, this was crucial because it frees up resources that allow us to invest energy and funds in recruiting for other positions. At the same time, we've reinforced midfield with a player who is in excellent physical condition. Despite being older in terms of player age, he will integrate perfectly into the team. Our team is very strong and genuinely wants to be protagonists.

With De Roon and Balerdi's arrivals, we have two players of captain-level quality. I'm confident that in terms of physical confrontation and fitness, we've brought a significant boost to the team. This team undoubtedly has talent, but also needs physical toughness and fighting spirit. Furthermore, Marten (De Roon), like Malen, is Dutch, and they are teammates at international level, which helps balance the growing number of Argentine players in our squad. So we're building a small Dutch and Italian contingent. Of course I'm very pleased with this, and I'm confident that at this level, our squad has become very solid.

Hello coach, I'd like to follow up on the previous question, moving from one new player to another. In your opinion, what extra can Balerdi bring to the team? Also, in these final days of the transfer window, are you expecting a final touch in attack?

Regarding Balerdi, the situation is somewhat similar to De Roon. He's also a relatively young player, perhaps at the peak of his career. This is clearly another important opportunity to significantly strengthen our defense. Although our current defense is already very strong, with players performing at an excellent level, we all know this season's schedule will be very demanding.

Given the packed fixture list, what we need to do – and what we always strive for – is to build depth throughout the entire squad, not just the starting eleven. We've made significant efforts to strengthen squad depth to be more competitive, to handle the many matches we must face, and to prepare for injuries – which we hope won't happen, but are always inevitable in football.

As for attack, to complete the squad, we still need at least... well, we need someone to reinforce the left side – that means a left-back and a forward. It must be said that Lulli certainly fills this gap to a certain extent. I've always had faith in this young player, and he's responded very crucially, but we can't overload him with responsibility. Remember, last season in that position we initially had Angeliño, who started well, and also Tsimikas, Çelik, Wesley, and players like Rensch. Lulli's performances in preseason and in Sunday's league match certainly give great confidence for his future, but we also have to consider the packed schedule, so in attack we could still consider bringing in another player.

Good afternoon. I'd like to ask a purely football and competitive question. Let's pretend the transfer market doesn't exist for a moment, though that's difficult during this period. What I want to ask is: given your extensive coaching experience, having managed many different teams pursuing various objectives, how much room for improvement do you believe Roma currently has on the pitch, considering the gap we had with Napoli and Inter last season? Through daily training and your work over the past week, how strong can we become? I could also frame this differently – the way fans debate in cafés every day: Are we genuinely strong? Strong enough to challenge for bigger goals? Or are we still missing something?

As always, ultimately you have to know your opponents, right? You have to look at who you're facing, because they're also making significant and expensive acquisitions and reinforcements. If we only focus on ourselves, we clearly are a team with more options, greater overall resilience, and the ability to handle a packed schedule and many matches. To be honest, I always focus only on my own team. I'm very satisfied with my players and the new additions. I'm confident we can maintain continuity from last season's performances and results, and achieve further improvement.

Clearly, Roma is constrained by Financial Fair Play regulations and must reduce the total wage bill. Therefore, certain players we wanted to bring in to strengthen the team are simply not achievable in practice. It's more a matter of new contract wage levels rather than transfer fees. The club is actually very cooperative and willing to spend on transfers, but the salary levels for new contracts absolutely cannot exceed a certain wage cap. So there's no point fantasizing about players we can't recruit.

Therefore, we must thank everyone who compromised and chose to join Roma to play here. This high team morale and spirit cannot be bought in the transfer market; it's forged within the team. In this regard, we're truly among the best, perhaps even at the top. Next comes competition on the pitch, and opponents whose performance we cannot predict. But for ourselves, if we only look at ourselves, I'm very satisfied with the current situation, and I must thank all these players.

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