Romano’s rise has turned one of Roma’s necessary financial decisions into a question that may follow the club for years. Signed from Winterthur in the summer of 2022 for a development payment of €70,000, the Cagliari midfielder is now valued at between €15 million and €20 million and was expected to make his Italy debut under Roberto Mancini. Roma, meanwhile, will receive €6.5 million including bonuses when Cagliari complete his purchase in June.
The coach and the club
Roma’s choice was shaped less by a lack of appreciation for Romano’s ability than by the demands placed on the club’s accounts. The Giallorossi had entered into a settlement agreement with UEFA in 2022 and needed capital gains to bring their finances into line with those commitments.
That requirement became decisive last summer. Several clubs had shown interest in Romano through loan proposals containing an option to buy, but neither Roma nor the player wanted an arrangement that left his future unresolved. Roma needed an immediate accounting gain; Romano wanted a destination where he would be regarded as a central part of the project.
Cagliari’s offer met both needs: an initial loan followed by an obligation to purchase, worth €6.5 million in total including add-ons. The issue for Roma is that the agreement contains neither a buy-back clause nor a percentage of any future transfer fee. If Romano’s progress continues, the club will have no route back into the deal.
His development at Trigoria had given Roma ample reason to consider a different outcome. After arriving from Switzerland, he progressed through the Under-17 and Under-18 sides before making his mark with the Primavera. In 63 appearances at that level, he scored 11 goals and provided five assists, combining creative responsibility with a threat around goal.
Gian Piero Gasperini took notice, bringing him into first-team training and handing him Serie A appearances against Sassuolo and Lecce. A loan spell at Spezia in Serie B followed in January, before Romano returned to the capital and found the financial circumstances around the club had become the defining factor in his next move.
A familiar Roma dilemma
Roma have experienced this tension between immediate needs and long-term potential before. Davide Frattesi, Matteo Politano and Gianluca Scamacca all left the club before establishing major careers elsewhere. Riccardo Calafiori remains the sharpest recent example.
José Mourinho had wanted Calafiori to leave on loan to play regularly, while then general manager Tiago Pinto did not consider him ready for the highest level. Calafiori instead joined Basel for €2.5 million, with Roma retaining 40 per cent of a future sale. That clause later delivered a further €1.6 million after his move to Bologna, while a ruling from the Court of Arbitration for Sport remained awaited.
Calafiori is now at Arsenal and part of Mancini’s new Italy group alongside Romano. Romano’s own international opportunity would underline how quickly his standing has changed: from a €70,000 youth acquisition to a midfielder entrusted with a prominent role for Cagliari and potentially handed responsibility in the Azzurri midfield.
Roma’s sale cannot be reduced to a simple failure of judgement. Clubs under financial pressure must make choices, and youth development rarely offers certainty. Yet the absence of a future-sale percentage or a repurchase mechanism leaves the club exposed should Romano fulfil the promise he showed in their academy. In a couple of seasons, his path may make €6.5 million look either like a prudent solution to an urgent problem or a modest price for a player Roma allowed to leave too soon.
