“A vegan in Rome”.
That’s how Corriere dello Sport title their article about Chris Smalling, and however ‘difficult it might be to forgo the delights of Roman cuisine, such as fried cod fillet, pasta carbonara or lamb’, they feel the centre-back is ‘ready to resist the culinary temptations of the capital’ in order to ‘defend for AS Roma’ and help improve a backline that looked shaky during the first game of the season.
Despite what Gazzetta dello Sport were reporting on Friday, the Italian newspaper explain the deal taking the player from Manchester United to Italy is a simple loan without an option to buy, with the Serie A club paying a simple €3m up front for the privilege of acquiring the England international.
Corriere state the only reason no option to buy has been included was to ‘speed up the operation’ and avoid any bureaucratic problems, but they feel Smalling will likely ‘look to stay’ after being pushed aside by the arrival of Harry Maguire and his manager’s preference for placing Axel Tuanzebe on the bench.
In a separate article, one that doesn’t involve their shock at a person being vegan, the same newspaper explain the defender is set to land at 12pm local time (11am UK time) in Rome, where he will then travel to undergo his medical and sign his contract in the afternoon.
