Thus far, Monchi’s first month on the job as Roma’s transfer Tzar (see what I did there?) has been all about MASSIVE sales. Between Mohamed Salah’s Liverpool switch and the reported double sale of Kostas Manolas and Leandro Paredes to Zenit St. Petersburg, Monchi has netted Roma a potential €117 million. And while many of us have quibbled with the necessity of these sales, Monch netted nine figures of revenue in, like, 48 hours. That’s pretty damn impressive.
Of course, with all those key names leaving, new names should be arriving. However, to date we’ve only been greeted with Hector Moreno’s smiling face. While many of us may not have been intimately familiar with Moreno’s game, watching him over the course of Mexico’s run through the Confederation Cup has been reassuring—he’s quite skilled and should bring some much needed touch and finesse to Roma’s backline.
But that’s it. Solamente Hector. The sum total of Roma’s purchases amounts to a 29-year-old central defender. Monchi is no fool, though, so you know he’s got something up his sleeve, be it Lorenzo Pellegrini, Domenico Berardi or even Marco Borriello. However, if Sunday’s headlines are any indication, Monchi is going a different route, an a younger route altogether.
LaRoma24.it claims that Roma and Genoa will meet midweek to discuss the future of Pietro Pellegri, Genoa’s 16-year-old, 6’3” highly sought after striker. It is believed that, should Roma seal the deal, Pellegri will remain with Genoa for at least one more season. However, with Inter Milan, Juventus and even Manchester City reportedly hot on his tail, this move is far from certain.
But why on earth would Roma invest potentially more than €10 million on a teenager? Well, quite simply, teenagers like this don’t come along too often. Pellegri made his Serie A debut nearly three months prior to his 16th birthday, tying him with Amedeo Amadei as the youngest debutant ever. Pellegri also seems to have an eye for big moments—we all remember his first career goal, don’t we?
Pellegri almost spoiled Totti’s farewell with this rather impressive goal—for a kid as tall and lanky as he is, going so low to pull off a shot like that is quite a feat.
Now, just exactly why Monchi is targeting Pellegri is open for debate—is he a building block or merely future transfer fodder—but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. One thing is certain, however, Monchi’s penchant for uncovering youth hasn’t waned since leaving Sevilla.
We’ll pass along more information as it becomes available, but adding Pellegri to the likes of Lorenzo Pellegrini and Luca Pellegrini not only increase the odds of CdT typos, but gives Roma an impressive cadre of Italian youth.