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Roma’s pursuit of a right-footed attacker to play off the left wing seems never-ending – but it’s alarming to realise just how long it’s been going on. While falling short of ambitious targets valued too highly by selling clubs, or not being able to convince them with personal terms, Roma have had to make do with stop-gap solutions or none at all. In fact, the last time Roma spent money on the permanent signing of a left winger was way back in 2018, when they bought Justin Kluivert from Ajax. Ironically, at the time, it felt like a luxury purchase that wasn’t totally necessary, with Stephan El Shaarawy and Diego Perotti already in situ. Kluivert couldn’t quite reach his potential at Roma and played his last game for the club in 2020, as did Perotti. El Shaarawy, meanwhile, had left Roma in 2019 but returned on a free transfer in January 2021. But without counting loans and free transfers – some of which, like Henrikh Mkhitaryan, were useful; others, like Bryan Zaragoza, less so – it has been eight years since Roma last bought a new left winger. Monchi was still the sporting director. James Pallotta was the owner. Eusebio Di Francesco was head coach. Daniele De Rossi was still playing. If those facts alone aren’t enough for it to sink in how much Roma have neglected the left wing position, here are all the signings (again, excluding loans and free agents) they have made since the Kluivert deal. Goalkeepers: 6 Roma signed Robin Olsen more recently than they bought a new left winger. Wow. Olsen’s struggles after his July 2018 move from Copenhagen contributed significantly to Roma’s high turnover in the department in the ensuing years. Roma had also signed Antonio Mirante and Daniel Fuzato that summer – both after Kluivert, the former by a matter of hours – to complete a brand-new goalkeeping department. A year later, they broke their transfer record for a goalkeeper to make Pau López their replacement for Olsen. He wasn’t great either. An investment in the more established Rui Patrício was one of the priority signings Roma made after appointing José Mourinho in 2021. But it was his successor, Mile Svilar – signed on a free, and thus not counting towards the six here – that finally gave the team stability. Svilar’s current deputy is Pierluigi Gollini, the most recent goalkeeper Roma have paid (a relatively small) transfer fee for. Right-backs: 7 Right-back has been something of a problem position for Roma in recent years, but one they have frequently tried to fix. Davide Santon signed in the summer of 2018, but injury issues restricted his chances of being a long-term solution. Then, towards the start of the Friedkin ownership, their fellow Texan Bryan Reynolds was bought from FC Dallas. That was a disaster. In 2022, Roma largely relied on free transfers to strengthen the team. The only player they paid for was Zeki Çelik, who lasted four years at the club. There have been plenty of new right-backs coming to the club since. Buba Sangaré doesn’t count here because he never made it beyond Primavera level, but in the first team, there has been: Saud Abdulhamid in August 2024; Devyne Rensch in January 2025; Wesley in July 2025; and, as Roma’s most recent signing, Nahuel Molina in August 2026. Centre-backs: 8 Having usually used a back three in recent years, Roma have had to keep themselves well stocked at centre-back. Like Sangaré above, William Bianda doesn’t count here as he never made his debut for the first team, but he’s worth a mention as a €6m investment. Mert Çetin was the next centre-back signing Roma made that did get to debut for the first team, even though he didn’t play much. For the 2019-20 season, Roma planted the seeds for their future back three. Gianluca Mancini joined from Atalanta and Chris Smalling signed on loan from Manchester United in a move that became permanent the following year. By then, Roger Ibañez had also been added to the ranks in another loan-to-buy deal with Atalanta. The summer of 2020 was otherwise quiet for new signings, but Marash Kumbulla did come on board in a part-exchange deal with Hellas Verona that also included Çetin. With Smalling, Ibañez and Kumbulla all gone, Roma have replenished their backline over the past few transfer windows. Evan Ndicka is, of course, a regular starter, but he was a free signing so doesn’t count towards the tally here, but he and Mancini have been joined by fresh blood. Last summer, Roma bought Jan Ziółkowski and Daniele Ghilardi. They’ve found room for another centre-back this summer too, bringing in Konstantinos Koulierakis. Left-backs: 5 Directly behind where a new left winger should be, Roma have signed five new left-backs since 2018. Leonardo Spinazzola was the first in 2019, before his injury prompted the purchase of Matías Viña in 2021. Viña flopped, with more competition for Spinazzola coming from the academy with the likes of Nicola Zalewski and Riccardo Calafiori. But the player to really challenge for his place and ultimately succeed him was Angeliño, a January 2024 loan signing who made his move permanent that summer. Roma then signed a young prospect at left-back in each of the transfer windows for the 2024-25 season. Samuel Dahl joined in the summer, before leaving in February – facilitated by the signing of Anass Salah-Eddine. Central midfielders: 9 Midfield used to be one of Roma’s most settled areas until it was dismantled in 2018. Since then, it’s been something of a revolving door to find the right combination. The first midfield signing up here is Steven Nzonzi. The less said about how that panned out, the better. Next is Bryan Cristante, who technically joined Roma before Kluivert but only on loan, with the permanent transfer being fulfilled for up to €30m a year later. In the same summer of that payment (2019), Roma signed Amadou Diawara, before adding Gonzalo Villar into the mix the following January. Next, Jordan Veretout‘s loan move to Roma became permanent. It was a few years until Roma invested in their midfield again, as it proved to be another area of neglect for a while. The club refused to meet the asking price for Mourinho’s original target Granit Xhaka, only then granting him a loanee like Sérgio Oliveira half a season later. Edoardo Bove blossomed from the academy after this period as well, and there were the free signings of Nemanja Matić and Houssem Aouar for short-lived spells. Ultimately, Roma’s next paid-for midfield signing, in 2023, would be a familiar face: the returning Leandro Paredes. A year later, it finally caught up with Roma that they needed to seriously invest in the department, and so they signed Enzo Le Fée and Manu Koné for sizeable fees. The French pair’s fortunes in Serie A starkly constrated one another. Another French-born player was added to the midfield in 2025, as Morocco international Neil Aynaoui arrived from Lens. Attacking midfielders: 3 Now for the territory where Roma could have been focusing on a left winger, but haven’t. One of their marquee signings for the summer of 2018 was Javier Pastore, a right-footed attacking midfielder who had to play deeper in central midfield at first. With injuries playing a part too, he never showed his best at Roma. Roma also signed a relatively unknown Nicolò Zaniolo that summer, with the left-footed attacking midfielder managing to establish himself in the team for a few years. Roma’s main attacking midfield addition in the years since was Paulo Dybala on a free, which doesn’t count towards the tally here. There were some hopes, though, that Roma might have invested in his future successor when they signed Tommaso Baldanzi in 2024, although the left-footer wasn’t quite up to the level required. Right wingers: 2 On the opposite side to where Roma have been struggling for a solution, there have only been a couple of paid-for signings as well, down partially to Zaniolo’s shift over there and then Dybala becoming the go-to solution. Either side, there was the signing of Carles Pérez in 2020 and the investment in Matías Soulé in 2024. Strikers: 7 Finally, there’s the range of strikers – several of them expensive – that Roma have rotated through in their post-Edin Džeko era. In the summer of 2021, Tammy Abraham and Eldor Shomurodov were lucrative signings. It was time for a regeneration a few years later, with Artem Dovbyk the next that Roma put big money down for in 2024. A year later, there was the addition of Antonio Arena – primarily a Primavera player, but one who has played and scored for the first team and thus counts. But with Dovbyk and loanee Evan Ferguson not convincing, Roma replenished their attack in January 2025 by buying Robinio Vaz and securing Donyell Malen on a loan-to-buy deal. Malen seriously impressed in his first few months at the club, but Roma still found room to invest in another striker when signing Santiago Castro this summer, having decided – rightly or wrongly – that they needed a second striker as much as a starting left winger.