With AS Roma now changing hands and being owned by Texas based billionaire Dan Friedkin, there’s new hope that money will be invested and previously unattainable targets will now be, well, attainable.
Among those is Chris Smalling, who spent the season on loan from Manchester United.
The centre-back excelled under Paulo Fonseca, showcasing a confidence and ability to lead that was often lacking when he played at Old Trafford.
Roma, keen to keep him around, were never able to convince Manchester United to let him leave for a reduced fee, as Ed Woodward and co. wanted €20m or more for the England international.
That amount was never matched, and, bar a small extension of his loan to let him finish the Serie A season, no agreement was found.
The 30-year-old has since returned to England, but the change of ownership at Roma has led to Calciomercato stating ‘the hopes of Chris Smalling returning have now become concrete’, as extra money in the bank (with a budget estimated at around €80m) should change things.
Furthermore, the sales of Cengiz Ünder, Patrik Schick and Alessandro Florenzi should add to the pot, opening even more doors for the Italian club.
This all comes just a few days after Gazzetta dello Sport stated Smalling’s future at Roma was ‘tied’ to the club’s, and with the latter now clear, we might get some movement for the former.
