From Politano to Caprari: The five products of academy AS Roma shouldn’t have sold
As our pundit Fabrizio Romano points out, the giallorossi have been selling many of the best products of their academy and those players are now impressing for other Serie A clubs.
Take Sassuolo, for example. AS Roma sold Lorenzo Pellegrini to Sassuolo one year ago for just €1.25 million. Today, he’s worth 7-8 times more at least. The former AS Roma played under Vincenzo Montella in the giallorossi ‘giovannissimi’ squad and it was the aeroplanino who taught Pellegrini how to play in centre midfield, given that he used to be a striker at the beginning of his career.
AS Roma, however, has a buy-back clause set to € 10 million and Napoli are one of those clubs that have already set sights on the 20-year-old promise.
Luca Mazzitelli is also playing for Sassuolo and moved to the Mapei stadium from Roma. The giallorossi also have a € 11 million buy-back clause to sign him back, though they sold the former Brescia ace for just € 3.5 million, whilst Sassuolo made Matteo Politano’s move permanent for just € 3 million last summer and the talented winger’s market value will reach double figures in the short term.
AS Roma cashed in a bit more than € 8 million from the sale of these three prospects who are now among the most promising Italian footballers. The Serie A giants have registered huge capital gains thanks to the sale of the products of their academy, but Sabatini should have taken into account their potential rather than just being concerned about the club’s finances.
There are young Italian players who are actually ready for Serie A football. Pescara’s Gianluca Caprari and Valerio Verre have also thrived in the club’s academy but the first one has already agreed to join Inter next season, while the newly promoted Serie A side rejected an offer of € 6 million from Sampdoria for Verre.
AS Roma’s academy is one of the best one in Italy, but the club should have more faith in their talents rather than using them to fix their financial issues.
Fabrizio Romano, translated by Lorenzo Bettoni
