The 2025-26 Serie A season finishes and Roma’s summer transfer planning becomes the focus. The squad showed both real strengths and persistent weaknesses through the season, and the summer presents both opportunities and difficult decisions for the club’s sporting management.

This is an honest analysis of what Roma actually needs to address, what’s realistic given the club’s financial position and squad structure, and how I’d prioritise the window if I had the impossible privilege of running it.

Where the Squad Actually Sits

Before discussing what’s needed, an honest assessment of where the squad ended the season:

The defensive structure showed genuine quality at times and serious vulnerabilities at others. The pattern through the season was that strong defensive performances came from specific personnel combinations and weaker performances when injuries or rotation disrupted those combinations. The depth in specific positions remains thinner than it should be for a club competing on multiple fronts.

The midfield had genuine quality at the top end but reliability issues across the squad. The injury picture through the season exposed the depth thinness. The creative output from midfield was variable. The defensive contribution from midfield was inconsistent.

The attacking quality was real but the goal-scoring distribution was concentrated in too few players. When the leading scorers were unavailable or out of form, the goals dried up. The squad needs more reliable scoring distribution.

The goalkeeper position is in reasonable shape. Both the first choice and the backup performed at acceptable Serie A level.

The tactical flexibility of the squad supports the manager’s approach but requires specific player profiles that aren’t all present in sufficient depth.

The Priority Areas

In my view, the priorities for the summer window in order of importance:

First priority: a reliable second creative midfielder. The dependency on a single creative player to drive offensive output has been a persistent issue. A second player capable of producing in this role would substantially improve the squad’s ceiling and resilience.

Second priority: defensive depth, specifically a versatile defender capable of multiple positions. The injury picture through the season exposed the thinness in defensive depth. A capable squad player who can cover multiple positions provides genuine value.

Third priority: a different profile of striker to complement the existing options. The current striker options are stylistically similar. Adding a different profile increases tactical flexibility and provides genuine rotation rather than like-for-like substitution.

Fourth priority: a young player with development potential in midfield or attack who can be integrated over the medium term. The squad needs continuing investment in younger players who will be the foundation for the next cycle.

The exact identification of targets is necessarily speculative — the realistic options depend on player availability, club willingness to sell, agent dynamics, and many other factors that aren’t public.

The Financial Reality

Any transfer window analysis has to start with the financial constraints. Roma’s financial position has improved over recent years but the club still operates within meaningful constraints:

The Financial Fair Play and Serie A sustainability rules limit gross transfer spending and require revenues to support spending.

The wage structure of the squad requires consideration when adding players. New high-wage additions need to be balanced by either departures or revenue growth.

The transfer income from outgoing transfers significantly affects the net spending available for incoming players.

The European football participation level affects revenue projections and therefore spending capacity.

The realistic net transfer budget for any given window is typically more modest than fan speculation suggests. The Roma summer window will likely involve some combination of mid-tier signings, free transfers, loan arrangements, and possibly one statement signing if the right opportunity arises.

The Likely Departures

The summer window typically involves both arrivals and departures. The likely departure categories:

Players approaching contract end who will leave on free transfers if not renewed.

Players whose value to the squad has declined and who would benefit from a fresh start elsewhere.

Players whose transfer value supports the club’s incoming transfer budget.

Loan returns whose situations need resolution.

Young players moving on loan to develop with regular first team football.

The specific players affected will become clear over coming weeks. The pattern usually involves several modest departures that collectively support the club’s financial position rather than single dramatic exits.

The Manager Factor

The summer planning depends substantially on the manager’s tactical preferences and the player profiles he wants. The relationship between sporting management and the manager on transfer priorities is one of the more important behind-the-scenes elements of any window.

The good summers involve clear alignment between manager and sporting management on priorities. The difficult summers involve disagreement about who should be targeted and what gaps need filling. From the outside, the alignment at Roma has appeared reasonable but not always perfect.

The manager’s preferences for specific player profiles will shape which actual options get pursued among the broader universe of potentially available players. The summer’s transfer activity will reveal aspects of these internal discussions that aren’t currently public.

The Realistic Expectations

Roma’s summer window realistic expectations should probably include:

Two to four substantive incoming players addressing the priority areas identified.

Several departures producing transfer income and clearing wage space.

At least one loan arrangement either incoming or outgoing.

Possible promotion of one or two younger players from the academy or recent acquisitions to more central squad roles.

Unlikely but possible: one major signing that significantly shifts the squad’s profile.

What probably won’t happen: dramatic squad transformation. Roma operates within the financial and structural constraints that produce evolutionary rather than revolutionary squad changes.

The Serie A Competitive Context

The Serie A competitive landscape that Roma will face next season is worth considering for transfer planning:

The top of the table has been competitive with multiple clubs in contention through recent seasons. The race for European positions and for the title is increasingly demanding.

Several rival clubs are making their own summer plans, with various clubs improving while others face financial pressures that constrain their improvement.

The European competition implications affect Roma’s planning depending on which European competition the club participates in.

The transfer market within Serie A has been active with significant movements between clubs that affect the competitive balance.

The summer window’s success for Roma depends partly on how the squad improvement compares to rival clubs’ improvements rather than just absolute improvement.

The Fan Perspective

Fan expectations heading into the window are inevitably elevated. The summer hope cycle is part of being a football supporter. The reality almost always falls somewhat short of the most optimistic fan expectations and somewhat exceeds the most pessimistic.

The healthy fan position is to:

Identify the real priorities for squad improvement rather than the dramatic fantasy additions.

Recognise the financial constraints that limit what’s realistically possible.

Evaluate the window after it closes based on what’s been done relative to those priorities and constraints.

Trust the sporting management to make informed decisions about specific players based on information that fans don’t have access to.

Support the players who arrive and the players who remain regardless of whether the fantasy targets materialised.

The summer rhetoric around transfers often generates more heat than light. The actual evaluation should happen after the window closes based on what’s been achieved.

The Roma-Specific Considerations

A few Roma-specific elements worth considering:

The club’s identity and historical positioning affect what kinds of players are attracted to or willing to consider Roma. This isn’t always about money — some players value the cultural and competitive elements that Roma offers.

The fan base’s distinctive character — passionate, demanding, sometimes difficult — affects player consideration both positively and negatively. Players who thrive with intense fan engagement do well at Roma. Players who need calmer environments often struggle.

The club’s ownership and governance structure produces particular dynamics around transfer decisions. The recent stability has been a positive development but the structural realities affect how decisions get made.

The Stadio Olimpico atmosphere and the Roma matchday experience offer genuine attraction for players who value those elements. This is part of what Roma can offer beyond pure financial considerations.

The Long-Term Trajectory

Beyond the immediate window, the longer-term trajectory of the squad and the club continues to develop. The recent seasons have produced both encouraging signs and ongoing challenges. The summer window is one chapter in a longer story about how the club builds toward sustained success.

The patient investment in younger players, the continued development of the academy, the financial discipline that supports sustained competitiveness, the manager continuity that allows tactical development — these are the longer-term elements that ultimately determine where the club ends up.

The summer transfer window matters but it’s one input among many. The clubs that succeed sustainably balance windowed transfer activity with broader institutional development.

The Honest Position

The summer 2026 transfer window for Roma will involve real decisions that affect the squad’s competitive position for the 2026-27 season. The priorities identified above are my honest reading of what would help. The realistic outcomes depend on factors largely outside the club’s full control — player availability, market dynamics, financial conditions, manager priorities.

The fan position I’d recommend is informed engagement with the window’s actual events rather than speculation about fantasy outcomes. Evaluate what gets done. Support the team that emerges. Trust the people responsible for these decisions to make informed judgements within the constraints they face.

The next several months will reveal what summer 2026 actually brings to Roma. The hope is for sensible additions that address real weaknesses and continuing development of the squad’s foundation. The expectation should be evolutionary rather than revolutionary change. The judgement should come after the window closes rather than before. Forza Roma.