Roma Rumor Roundup: Benatia, Nainggolan, and the Hall of Fame

It's Monday and we might finally have some market movement, with Walter Sabatini being summoned to the Big Apple to meet with the suits, presumably to iron out the details on Rudi Garcia's supposedly imminent appointment. While Big Walt sorts things out, the respective futures of several once and future Romans twist in the wind, with several transfers, co-ownerships, and loans waiting on some sort of announcement, presumably that of Garcia.

First up, Mehdi Benatia.

The deal seems all but done; the only question that remains is who and how much cash is heading to Udinese. The word on the streets seems to indicate the cash value will be around six or seven million Euros, with Udinese choosing from two of Alessio Romagnoli, Nico Lopez, Federico Viviani or Valerio Verre. If certain reports are to be believed, Benatia will sign a five year deal with Roma on Thursday or Friday.

For my two cents, Romagnoli is the one to hang onto among that group.

Boca Juniors

The Buenos Aires club has the hots for a couple of redundant Romans, eyeing both Nico Lopez and Ivan Piris. While Lopez remains Roman property until 2016, for Piris the writing has been on the wall for weeks, and it appears he may be plying his trade at La Bombonera next season.

At Lopez's age, there are sure to be multiple loan spells before he makes his name in Roma, but in his limited minutes he did enough to keep his name in the long term discussion. Piris, who played well for the most part, is yet another name on the Roman fullback wall. I don't think it's a case of poor performance, more that he can be replaced and upgraded upon without busting the bank.

Marco Borriello

With Osvaldo having effectively played his way out of Roma, and perhaps all of Italy, the Giallorossi find themselves in need of another striker, causing many to speculate on Borriello's return. That many does not include Genoa president Enrico Preziosi, however, who is keen on keeping Borriello; to which the women of Genoa will surely say, Grazie.

Toby Alderweireld

The current Ajax defender, once fairly close to Roma, sees his future in Germany or England, saying he'll only leave Amsterdam for a "great team". So there's that...nice knowing you, Toby.

Wallace

Would you like another Brazilian fullback? Of course, who wouldn't? The future of this young Brazilian ultimately rests with Jose Mourinho's willingness to play him, as Chelsea are entertaining loan offers from two Italian clubs, believed to be Roma and Napoli.

James Pallotta is doing everything he can to kill my dream of Davide Santon.

Radja Nainggolan

So far this summer, Roma is 0-1 on Belgians, a figure that may soon change. Roma are willing to part with their share in Adrian Stoian to acquire Nainggolan (Chievo currently owns the remaining 50%). As much as it would sting to lose a moustache as sweet as Stoian's, Nainggolan could fit seamlessly within Roma.

Hall of Fame

Roma's second class of inductees will be announced next month, for now the list of candidates has been narrowed to 20--online voting is now underway.

Once again, the candidates start with a pioneer section, featuring players dating back to the clubs founding in 1927; the second link takes you to the ballot and also includes some archival footage of the pioneers. While that's all well and good, you'll want to direct your attention towards two of the more recent Roma players, Vincenzo Montella and Christian Panucci; one passed over and one possible future manager of Roma.

Hall of Fames exist in all American sports, and within each of them there exists a subtle distinction between 'Hall of Famers' and 'First Ballot Hall of Famers', those who leave little room for doubt and merit instant induction. So it will be interesting to see if this same dynamic occurs with Roma's pantheon; Montella and Panucci both had fine careers, two of the clubs best over the past 10-15 years, but do you put them among the club's all-time legends?

So that's it for this addition, with a few rumors becoming more concrete, we might see some actual moves this week...how novel.