Friday Updates: Fuzato’s New Deal, South American Takeover, Women’s Preseason Begins & More

I'm not sure what the weather has been like in your neck of the woods this week, but it's been unbearably and disgustingly hot and humid in my little corner of the world. The kind of heat that makes you sweat while doing the dishes and makes days feel twice as long. I find that as I get older the more I hate summer. I can't be alone in that, right?

Ordinarily, this is the down season for football, so I'd have to survive the heat without the benefit of having Roma and/or Italy matches to pass the time, but I must admit that, even though it came from horrible circumstances, I'm loving the pace of the Serie A schedule. It's almost like the early days of the NCAA tournament; there's just always another match to catch, another rumor to discuss or lineups to poor over—it's amazing.

As we ramp up for Roma's Round 32 match against Brescia, let's take a quick tour through the Romaverse and see if anything catches our eye.

Daniel Fuzato Extends Contract

Despite never making a first team appearance with the club, 23-year-old Daniel Fuzato has re-upped with Roma, signing on the dotted line through 2023. Fuzato, a Brazilian keeper who joined the club in 2018, spoke immediately about his desire to get more experience under his belt:

This extension is an important moment in my career. I know that I need to gain more experience to continue my development, but the confidence the club has shown in my - as demonstrated by this extension - gives me so much pride.

Tying my long-term future to Roma was my aim and I am delighted to have done that.

If you believe the rumor mill, Pau Lopez's place in Roma is far from secured (for financial reasons, not performance) and Fuzato is at the age where most keepers start to really get their feet wet. Giving Fuzato a contract extension before he's ever even made an appearance for the club is a sign of their faith in his skill and potential, so don't be shocked if he's given a legitimate look this summer.

Roma Could Face Wolves or Olympiakos In Europa League Quarterfinals

Thanks to the Coronavirus pandemic, continental football will take on a new and exciting look when both the Champions and Europa Leagues resume play next month. Rather than the traditional home-and-home aggregate tilts, both competitions will essentially be eight team one-leg mini tournaments.

Before we fret about a potential Wolves vs Wolves match-up, Roma has to get past Sevilla in the Round of 16; a fixture that will take place in early August at a neutral site in Germany. If Roma knockoff Monchi's men, they will face either Wolverhampton Wanderers of England or Olympiakos of Greece.

This is likely the club's only route to the Champions League, so these won't be your average Europa League fixtures—there's a lot of money riding on this.

South American Consortium Interested in Roma Takeover

We've been reading about Roma's reported interest in Edinson Cavani over the past few weeks, a story that has largely been fueled by an “intermediary” between Cavani and Roma, but another “intermediary” would have you believe that Cavani will merely be the tip of a much more intriguing iceberg.

According to Calciomercato (translation via Football Italia), intermediary Gaston Fernandez has the scoop on a South American group rumored to be engaged in negotiations with James Pallotta:

The South American conglomerate are trying to buy Roma. If the operation should go through, then they’ll try to bring Cavani to the Giallorossi too. I can confirm that, although at the moment there are no additional developments.

As far as I am concerned, there is no contact between Cavani and the current Roma directors. I am working as an intermediary with the group that wants to buy Roma and with Cavani’s agent, Walter Guglielmone.

It’s a long process, the negotiations for the takeover have been going on for months, but I can’t get into details right now. I can assure you they are trying to finalise the deal as soon as possible, so they can bring Cavani to Italy during the summer transfer session.

It's difficult to know what to make of this rather unsubstantiated takeover story, especially without any actual indication as to who is heading up this consortium, but presumably they're in the billionaire club so I'd hope their first gift to Roma fans isn't a 33-year-old striker on the decline.

Roma Women Begin 2020-2021 Preseason Training

It's hard to believe that Roma are already prepping for a new season, but with the '19-’20 campaign being cut-short and European Championship qualifications starting in early September, Serie A Femminile is slated to begin in late August; some six weeks from now.

As a result, Betty Bavagnoli called her squad back to the capital yesterday to begin preseason training. You get an interesting look at their practice routines in that clip, but it's worrying that Andressa hasn't yet reported. You'll also notice that they're still wearing the ‘19-’20 training line; we can only presume the club are waiting to unveil all the new gear once the men's season concludes in early August.

Our preseason coverage will begin early next month, but the pressure is on Bavagnoli to convert Roma's potential into results at the top of the table.

Those are your headlines for this morning. Stick with us today as we begin to dive into Roma's Round 32 fixture against Brescia.