Nacho and Szczesny Deals In Limbo

The transfer of Nacho Fernandez, which has been more hyped than Frank Ocean's sophomore album due to the lack of quality in Roma's back line, is on hold and might even be cancelled. DiMarzio and Sky Sport's Mario Giunta are reporting that negotiations for the Spanish defender have cooled significantly in the past few days. First the two clubs haggled over a supposed buy-back option, and now Roma is waiting for Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane's approval of the transfer, which may never come.

So where does Roma go from here? Even with the addition of Juan Jesus from Inter Milan recently, defensive depth is still an issue. Roma is a Kostas Manolas injury away from disaster, and Daniele De Rossi lining up at center back will do little to quell the fears of the Roman faithful. As successful as that might be, it's a stop gag solution to a self-inflicted wound. The Roma brass has constantly flipped young, quality center backs, but their newest defensive gem Antonio Rudiger tore his ACL earlier this summer, and now Roma are stuck scrambling for a quality replacement.

Had the management had some foresight, they would've kept and cultivated one of the many fantastic center back prospects that has passed through the ranks of late so that they'd have a capable backup when situations such as these arise. The good news about next year's back line? Lack of continuity shouldn't be an issue, as the defense has been different every year the last few seasons.

DiMarzio is also reporting that Roma is having trouble renewing goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny's loan. As a result, the club is now looking at alternatives at goalkeeper such as AC Milan's Diego Lopez, however Lopez is practically en route to North London to serve as Chelsea's new backup. While it's not very clear what's holding up Szczesny's loan renewal, it's likely that the two clubs are negotiating a future permanent signing fee.

At this point though, it might be better for Roma to just move on from their love affair with Arsenal's least favorite goalkeeper. The time to sign him permanently passed with the addition of Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson earlier this summer. If Arsenal is demanding an exorbitant mandatory purchase clause next summer, Roma would be better off finding a different goalkeeper for Alisson to compete against this season.