Gerson Signs With Roma, Will Arrive in January

This has certainly been one of the stranger transfer seasons I can recall, and I'm not even talking about Roma's four month pursuit of Edin Dzeko. Quite the contrary, actually. Who among us actually knew of Gerson this time last week? And now here we are, after a week of tussling with Barcelona over the 18-year-old Brazilian's signature, including rumors of a conspiracy theory, Roma have actually bested their Catalan counterparts, because that would never actually happen on the pitch, of course.

The beautiful part about this rumor is that the news is coming straight from the source, none other than Fluminense President Peter Siemsen:

Gerson will go to Roma in January. Until the end of December he will stay with us. He will not go to Barcelona.

No equivocation there, eh?

For the privilege of signing Gerson Santos Da Silva, Roma will forfeit a reported €17 million for the 18-year-old midfielder who has drawn comparisons to Angel Di Maria and James Rodriguez, among others. Due to Roma's glut of Non-EU players, Gerson will remain with Fluminense until December before joining the Giallorossi after New Year's Day.

Now, there is a rumor floating around that Barcelona have acquired some sort of first-negotiating rights should Gerson ever be placed on the market again, but given how quickly they reload each and every summer that's really not as scary as it sounds, though you'll want to at least keep an eye what sort of contract Gerson ultimately signs with Roma.

Either way, it looks like Roma bagged themselves a good one.