At Trigoria, the league calendar says Atalanta is coming. The transfer market says something else: business isn’t quite finished.
Roma closed the summer window without delivering the left-sided reinforcement Gian Piero Gasperini had been asking for. The deadline passed, the deals dried up, but one door stayed open – the free-agent market. And Roma have kept a hand on the handle.
The club’s line is straightforward: no panic signing, no name for the sake of a name. They will move only if a genuine opportunity appears, one that fits Gasperini’s tactical demands rather than just filling a squad list.
According to Gazzetta dello Sport, one profile stands out: Wilfried Zaha.
The Ivorian winger has already flirted with Roma once, back in 2023, when a move to the capital came close before collapsing. Now he is free again after his most recent spell, and that changes the equation. No transfer fee, just wages, ambition and a coach who loves players capable of ripping open a flank on their own.
Zaha is not the only card on the table. Krépin Diatta is also in the mix, another free agent after the end of his time at Monaco. He offers pace, vertical runs and the kind of work rate that can stretch games and opponents. For a coach who builds his sides on intensity and wide overloads, that profile has obvious appeal.
Then there is the most intriguing name of all: Raphael Guerreiro.
At 32, the Portuguese brings a very different package – experience at the highest level, tactical intelligence, and the versatility to play as a full-back, wing-back or even step inside as an extra midfielder. Fresh from a season at Bayern Munich, he would instantly raise the technical ceiling on Roma’s left side, giving Gasperini a player who can both create and control.
Three options, three different interpretations of what that left flank could become: the one-on-one menace of Zaha, the direct thrust of Diatta, or the refined, multi-role craft of Guerreiro.
Atalanta is looming, the season is already asking questions, and Roma must decide whether to trust what they have or reach into a market that rarely offers this much quality for nothing.
