Report: Shick to Leipzig on Loan, Option to Buy

Roma may have just played to another frustrating draw, sharing points with Lazio in a woodwork-filled 1-1 draw, but with the transfer window set to slam shut tomorrow there's no stopping the rumor mill. Now that Roma have reinforced the defense (I mean, I guess, right?) with the additions of Davide Zappacosta and Chris Smalling and jettisoned Robin Olsen and Gregoire Defrel, that only leaves a couple pieces of business before we can officially move on from summer—finding a backup for Edin Dzeko, solving the Patrik Schick conundrum, and maybe bringing in another left winger.

And, well, if we believe Gianluca DiMarzio, Roma are about to cross two of those three to-dos off their list before tomorrow evening.

According to transfer guru Gianluca DiMarzio (incidentally, I saw that The Love Guru is available for free streaming on the Roku Channel. I advice you to pass) Roma and Leipzig have finally brokered an agreement for Patrik Schick, Roma's 23-year-old winger/striker. While the deal suffered its ups and downs today—swinging from a loan + mandatory purchase to a dry loan—the two clubs have settled on a season-long loan with a €28 million option to buy. Yes, option.

Roma, as you may or may not recall, worked out a rather convoluted transfer arrangement with Sampdoria two summers ago when they signed Schick, whereupon the final portion of the deal (50% of his future sale price or €20 million, whichever is greater) is due in February of 2020. The only hope Roma has at this point is that Schick excels with Leipzig this year and they exercise that option, allowing Roma to at least recoup a portion of the €42 they will have paid for Schick by February.

With Schick out of the way, Roma are reportedly set to bring Nikola Kalinic into the fold tomorrow, taking the Croatian forward on their own loan with an option to buy. For Kalinic, who will likely deputize Edin Dzeko, it represents a return to Serie A, where he played three seasons for Fiorentina and AC Milan.

I'm not sure if or when we'll dedicate a full postmortem to Schick's Roma career, but suffice it to say, it was a tremendous disappointment, one from which neither the club nor the player emerge unscathed.