If there’s something that all football fans can agree on, especially fans who are all about European football it’s that if Jose Mourinho is directing traffic, there will always be a high percentage of pivotal players who are going to want to play for him no matter where he goes. Look at what he did in his time at Chelsea, or even more at Real Madrid, where he had La Liga odds experts almost going crazy week in and week out. Everywhere he’s gone to, Mourinho has always had a special magical touch of sorts for finding players that might not seem like top fits for his teams and making them stars, which ultimately ends up working wonders for him and his team down the road.
In Mourinho’s first summer as head coach for Roma, his first summer transfer market dealings were met with overwhelming sensations and doubts at first, but just like with every other team he’s ever coached, Mou has gotten to work to make all of his decisions work in the best way possible. Here we bring you our analysis on how good Mourinho’s first signings with Roma have worked so far.
Tammy Abraham
It’s obvious that we had to start the list off with Roma’s best signing of the summer, former Chelsea striker, Tammy Abraham. Abraham’s move to Roma seems like a perfect marriage for both parts of the equation, given that Roma was in dire needs to find a new number “9” striker for their team and Abraham was looking for an opportunity to revive his career and take off. Well, lucky for the English striker, Mourinho knows a thing or two about his former team, Chelsea, which helped tipped the scale over for Abraham’s landing in Roma.
What Abraham has done for the team and himself since landing in Roma is remarkable. He has already scored two goals in seven games for Mou’s squad and was even called-up by the England National Team once again, something that hadn’t happened in almost two years. It’s more than clear that Abraham will fit in just right as Dzeko’s substitute and if it all works out for the best in the long run, he could end up being one of the main reasons why Roma will be back fighting for one of the top spots in the Serie A rankings, as well as in European competitions.
Rui Patricio
If you take out Allison Becker from the equation, can you remember who was Roma’s last great goalkeeper? It’s ok if you don’t have a clear answer, because in all honesty, and without trying to offend the likes of Robin Olsen, Pau Lopez, Antonio Mirante and Daniel Fuzato, replacing Becker was never going to be an easy job. While the previously mentioned all tried their best to become Roma’s next goalie, they all ended up failing, which for the recently appointed Mourinho meant that he had to go out into the market and find a keeper that could really guarantee security and stability at all times. Well, Mou did just that and after securing the signing of fellow Portuguese and former Wolverhampton keeper Rui-Patricio for 11.5 million euros for three years, Mourinho might have found exactly what the team needed.
Yeah, Patricio’s first outings as Roma’s new keeper haven’t been all clean sheets, losing already twice in the season against Verona and Lazio, netting 3 goals against him in each of the games, but Patricio has also shown signs that once he’s fully accustomed to Serie A football, he should fare just fine. His level of experience as well as his skill set, groomed over 10 years as a pro playing in Portugal, England and for the Portuguese National team makes him a perfect candidate to finally turn the page on Allison Becker’s lingering memories at Roma.
Matias Viña
The future for left defensive midfielder Leonardo Spinazzola and Roma seemed like it was on its way to growing in prominence and successes, especially after a failed attempt to join Inter in 2020 fell through, leading him to become one of Roma’s new team leaders. But after a horrific Achilles tendon injury suffered in the Euro 2020 tournament, Mourinho and Roma knew that they had to hit the market to find a player who could fill in for the injured Spinazzola and who could also become yet another staple for the team moving forward. Thus enter, Uruguayan left back, Matias Viña from Brazilian side Palmeiras.
Viña, like all Uruguayan players, is known for his physical style of playing as well as bringing to the table some marvelous crossing abilities that Spinazzola doesn’t necessarily have going for himself. In five matches already in the season, Viña has proven that his level of experience, gained from playing in Brazil and with the Uruguayan National Team can end up being of great use for a Roma team that’s waiting patiently for their star player Spinazzola to return.
Eldor Shomurodov
If you’re a Roma fan and you were left seriously wondering who Roma’s new striker, that’s supposed to be Edin Dzeko’s substitute, is, then you’re not alone. But that doesn’t mean that Uzbek striker Eldor Shomurodov should be looked at with doubt and deception. After netting 8 goals for Sassuolo last season, Shomurodov made a career-altering change by joining Roma, in a move that critics see as Mourinho’s perfect opportunity to create another goal-scoring master like he’s done before with players like Didier Drogba at Chelsea for example.
With Shomurodov the idea is not for him to become Roma’s main scoring target, especially with Tammy Abraham looking like he’s the perfect man for the job, but for him to be able to play as a perfect pivot for Abraham and company when in offense. If he’s able to find his fitting as fast as possible with Roma, we could end up seeing a good second fiddle attacker for Roma down the line.
