Just when things were starting to look up for Eusebio di Francesco at Roma, winning his last four games in charge, everything came crashing down over the weekend with a 3-0 loss to city rivals Lazio.
Putting a dent in their Champions League qualification ambitions, the loss placed more doubt over the Italian’s future in Rome, which, in turn, did the same over Monchi’s.
The Spanish director of football has been linked with a move away over the past month or so, with Arsenal the favourite to secure his services, and the loss to Lazio has only increased the chances of him leaving.
Three different newspapers in Italy discuss the matter on Monday, starting with Gazzetta dello Sport who explain that should Roma decide to move on from Di Francesco in the coming days/weeks, then an exit is likely, since his future ‘seems to be at Arsenal’.
Over at Il Tempo, the local outlet believe Monchi blames himself for a rather poor season, and, ‘according to many’, has decided to leave and team up with Emery at the Emirates.
As for Corriere dello Sport, they state James Pallotta, Roma’s president, is prepared to start from scratch, meaning Monchi ‘could decide to leave’, with Arsenal ‘tempting him for some time’.
With that much smoke, it’s fair to say there is a fire somewhere.
It’s rare that Italian newspapers agree this much on something, and unless Di Francesco turns things around dramatically in the coming weeks, an exit is looming, meaning Monchi probably won’t be far behind.
Basically, Arsenal fans will be hoping Roma lose their next few games.
