Official: Roma Extends Andressa's Contract Through 2022 Season

Roma has announced an agreement with Andressa, clinching the Brazilian playmaker to a new contract through the 2021-2022 season. The news comes as a relief to Giallorosse fans who have welcomed Andressa’s influence on the team, both in terms of quality on the pitch and the ability to deliver big-game results. It also comes after uncertainty reigned over whether journeywoman Andressa would be tempted with another adventure elsewhere.

With her previous contract expiring this summer, Andressa spent the spring months openly ruminating on her future moves. As reported by Voce Giallorossa, the Brazilian had this to say only a couple of months ago:

“I think about returning to Brazil as my family is from there. But, at the moment, I still have a lot to learn in Europe. I don’t want to go back just to finish my career [in Brazil]. I intend to to go back [to Brazil without enough time left] to play at competitively for at least two or three years. There isn’t that much difference between Europe and Brazil. You have to prepare yourself to 100 percent [in any case], regardless of the environment you find yourself in. The Brazilian style of play and European style are only slightly different. But I feel here [in the Brazil national team] that the girls are super prepared. The intensity is very high in every training session.”

So it would seem Andressa definitely has her mind set on a return to the Brazilian domestic league at some point, and not a moment too late in her career at that, but has decided there’s more left to learn with Betty Bavagnoli (who is heavily rumored to be taking up a director’s position with Roma next year) and Serie A Femminile.

On Andressa’s new contract extension, the Brazilian wrote over social media:

“I’m happy to keep playing here. We have great aims for next season and the club pushes us to always give the best of ourselves, both on and off the pitch. I couldn’t find myself at a better club. Dajeee Romaaa”

To try and quantify Andressa’s impact would be an understatement of her presence in the team. And that’s to say nothing of Andressa’s dead-ball ability, which keeps her firmly at the top of Serie A as one of the most dangerous free-kick takers in the league. She’s one of those players that will fall on the wrong side of the debate about the importance of stats as a foundation for insightful football conversation.

Andressa has delivered 16 goals and 15 assists in 34 appearances for Roma over two seasons so far (in a 22-game-per-season league), but the way her playmaking changes the dynamics of the biggest games, particularly ones against high-pressing sides like AC Milan and Juventus, makes Andressa a crucial piece to Roma’s ambitions over the next 12 months.

In the more immediate future, Roma will be hoping to welcome back Andressa to full fitness—after a spell out with injury—just in time to face AC Milan in this Sunday’s Coppa Italia final.