Jose Mourinho spent months complaining he had only half a squad, so did Roma’s January transfer window satisfy those demands?
The Special One never seemed to let a press conference or interview pass without pointing out he had only 11-12 decent players at his disposal, that this would be a very long-term project to transform the side to his liking and that January would only be the beginning.
Huge changes were expected, so only picking up Ainsley Maitland-Niles on loan from Arsenal – without an option to buy – and Sergio Oliveira from FC Porto weren’t quite the fireworks fans had been waiting for.
Maitland-Niles is the third England international to join the Giallorossi after Chris Smalling and Tammy Abraham, as along with Mourinho they try to form a Premier League cluster at the Stadio Olimpico.
He certainly brings more of an attacking bent to the right flank, where there had been no alternative to Rick Karsdorp.
Along with the Premier League group, there is also a growing Portuguese representation with Sergio Oliveira on loan with option to buy from FC Porto.
The midfielder certainly made an immediate impact, scoring two goals in his first two Serie A games, along with an assist.
There were meant to be more changes in the midfield, but Amadou Diawara rejected several proposals and the extra room was not freed up.
The squad was whittled down with some of those Mourinho visibly could not stand sent elsewhere, such as Borja Mayoral, Gonzalo Villar, Federico Fazio and Bryan Reynolds.
The one they might miss is Riccardo Calafiori, loaned to Genoa, as they now feel a little short on options, precisely the thing Mou had complained about.
So will these two temporary signings be enough to stop Mourinho moaning the next time they drop points or pick up an injury? Unlikely, but then 10 new buys might not have achieved that either.
It’s a good transfer window, nothing to complain no strange buys when we had Monchi. We get rid of some players and their salaries. The only problem was Diawara, again not accepting any contract. Else we maybe had seen one more signing. But slow but steady this Roma squad is being rebuilt to aim for the top 4 in consecutive seasons. And we cannot complain as we already signed Tammy Abraham for 40 million. I am hoping we can still get some money for Kluivert and Cengiz in the long run and Diawara and invest it in one proper defending midfielder.
Mourinho will fight for top 4 as soon as he gest 400M mercato budget and transfery like Halland, without that what can he do ? No players.