Il Tempo (Austini) – He has already spoken as the Roma manager “in pectore” and accepted the advice of the most illustrious predecessor of the last twenty years in Rome: Fabio Capello. Sunday night on Sky Sport, Gian Piero Gasperini was clearly smiling while his expert colleague warned him about the difficulties of the Giallorossi environment compared to Bergamo. “I know, I know it’s difficult there (in Rome)”, responded Gasp. And then an anecdote about De Rossi: “In January, he told me he was thinking of retiring because of his knee and that he would like to come and follow my training for a week”. There would be no better vice-manager right now to start the adventure with the support of the Romanisti wounded by the captain’s farewell, but DDR, at least for next season, would still like to play as a footballer elsewhere. Meanwhile, it will be Gasperini’s turn to lead the technical reconstruction of a team that has clearly arrived at the end of a cycle without winning anything. The Piedmontese boss began talking with the two Percassi’s, the father and son, to separate from Atalanta. In the post match on Sunday, he was very tough on the club, almost as if he was looking to break-up in public even though the club had just confirmed him for next season publicly. Yesterday there was the first confrontation between the parties at the year-end dinner of the Bergamo-club to celebrate the historic finish in a Champions League place. Today there will be another meeting that will dive deeper into the situation but we will need more time for the final split. Gasperini has now chosen to take his revenge at Roma after his short experience at Inter, which cost him the label of being suitable for only provincial sides.
At the age of 61, he does not want to miss this train because he also feels he has finished his work over these three years at Atalanta – unless Percassi promises him a Champions League type of transfer market, which is unlikely at the moment. Roma will wait for Gasperini for at least another couple of weeks, convinced that he will soon be able to free himself and sign a three-year contract. The club’s ideas coincide with many of the technician’s needs: the roster must be rejuvenated and emptied of the dead weights in the dressing room. The choice made on De Rossi is only the beginning, the next senator to pack will be Dzeko. Edin has decided to change scenery and is ready to accept the proposal of Conte’s Inter. Negotiations between the two clubs have yet to begin, but there are excellent grounds for closing the deal, with Roma’s hope that it will also achieve a plusvalenza after the Bosnian’s contract amortised for four years. At least two other “big” players are in the balance: Manolas’ release clause can be taken advantage of for €38 million until July: after Juve were interested, now the most concrete prospect is Napoli, but he has yet to be convinced. For the Greek, everything is still possible with him. Kolarov, on the other hand, would be inclined to stay and discuss his future further with the new sporting director Petrachi, who is negotiating with Cairo to free himself from the last year of his contract with Torino. Meanwhile, the list of renewals has two priorities: Zaniolo and El Shaarawy.
