Report: Alessio Riccardi to Pescara on Loan

Alessio Riccardi has been long talked about as the potential next great Roman to come through Trigoria. We ranked him 8th in CDT’s U-23 rankings last summer, even though he was only 18-years-old. However, despite now being just 19-years-old and performing among the best in his age group for both Roma’s Primavera side and Italy’s U-19 team, his star has seemingly faded a bit of late.

After not appearing in any senior side matches since his lone Coppa Italia appearance during the 2018/19 under Eusebio Di Francesco, many Romanisti have wondered what the future would hold for the hometown kid. Riccardi made no senior side appearances under Paulo Fonseca and wasn’t even on the bench in Roma’s last match against Juve when fellow Primavera players Daniel Fuzato and Riccardo Calafiori made their senior side debuts.

Last summer, much to the ire of Roma Twitter, he was consistently rumored to be on the table in a potential swap with Juventus for Daniele Rugani. Then again this summer, Riccardi was said to be on the negotiating table as part of a deal for Arkadiusz Milik.

Would Roma give up on one of it’s highly rated young Romans before ever giving him a shot at the senior level? It was looking more and more likely as the Milik rumors picked up steam, even though reports said that Riccardi wasn’t keen to leave Rome for Naples.

However, it looks as if those rumors will come to a halt, as Filippo Biafora of Il Tempo reports that Roma have reached a deal to send Riccardi elsewhere. According to Biafora, Riccardi will head to Pescara on loan to further hone his skills in Serie B in 2020-21.

Pescara finishined 17th in Serie B last season, avoiding the drop to Serie C by winning a relegation play-off on penalty kicks. Considering that the Dolphins are coming off such a poor season should bode well for a player like Riccardi to get plenty of opportunities to impress.

On the surface this looks like a win-win for Roma and Riccardi. Riccardi will be able to test himself at the professional level for the first time without the pressure of doing it at the Olimpico. Then after a season in B, Roma should have a better idea of what Riccardi could become. Meanwhile, Roma won’t be left wondering what if had they sent him to Naples and Riccardi developed into a quality player.

Only time will tell if Riccardi becomes the player that many hope he will be, but at the very least Romanisti won’t have to watch Riccardi in the sky blue of Napoli if he does pan out. For the time being we can just hope that maturation begins in the sky blue and white stripes of Pescara.