Report: Morgan De Sanctis to Be Named Roma Director of Sport

With Roma officially changing hands last week, the most immediate and pressing question on our collective minds was a rather vague but important: what’s next? After shelling out €591 million to purchase AS Roma, what did the Friedkin Group have in store for the Giallorossi? Would we see an influx of cash spent on the transfer market? Would Roma continue to seek swap deals? Were there any impending Bosman signatures coming?

While these were all understandable and important questions, they were missing one important prerequisite: Roma had no Director of Sport in place. In the absence of a promotion from within or an outside hire, the presumption was that CEO Guido Fienga and Ryan Friedkin would handle the transfer business in the short-term, with the official hiring of a new DS supposedly put on the back burner for several weeks if not months.

And, well, it looks like that's all about to change:

According to Tuttomercato, Roma are set to appoint Morgan De Sanctis as their latest Director of Sport. De Sanctis, as you may recall, was Roma's goalkeeper between 2013 and 2016, capping off a two-decade long career (though he made one appearance for Monaco in 2017). After hanging up his gloves, MDS has filled a variety of roles within Roma's organization, most recently running Roma's youth sector, an internship that is about to yield one hell of a promotion.

After toying with the idea of bringing Ramon Planes aboard from Barcelona or possibly even giving Gianluca Petrachi another shot, Roma are reportedly set to name De Sanctis as the new Director of Sport as early as Monday.

MDS wasn't with Roma long, but he somewhat surreptitiously became a fan favorite, saving Roma from their ill-fated Maarten Stekelenburg experiment. De Sanctis likely won't receive the same praise, adulation and patience from fans in his new role, but at least he's familiar with the organization, having worked his way up the ranks over the past three years.

We'll pass along more details as they become available, but this is a big item we can cross off Roma's to do list.