Report: Matias Viña to Roma for €11M Plus Bonuses

Standing in stark contrast to Roma's drawn-out pursuit of Granit Xhaka, the Giallorossi's sudden and unexpected pursuit of Palmeiras left-back Matias Viña has gone from rumor to reality in the blink of an eye if recent reports out of Uruguay are correct. Viña, a 23-year-old Uruguayan left-back, has been tabbed as Roma's ideal replacement for Leonardo Spinazzola, who will likely be sidelined until early 2022 after tearing the Achilles tendon in his left leg while on international duty with Italy during Euro 2020.

While sources in Italy reported over the weekend that Roma and Palmeiras were some €5 million away from an agreement, Uruguyan journalist Gonzalo Ronchi claims the clubs have reached an agreement:

If Ronchi's reporting is correct, Roma will land Viña for approximately €13.5 million when all is said and done; just shy of Palmeiras’ rumored €15 million asking price. As Ronchi points out, if these are indeed the final figures, Palmeira's will kick €4.4 million of that sale price to Viña's prior club, Nacional.

Necessity is the mother of invention, so kudos to Roma GM Tiago Pinto for acting swiftly to find cover at left-back while Spinazzola recovers and Riccardo Calafiori adapts to life as a senior-level player.

At first blush, this seems like a pretty decent deal for a player who, while not generally well-known, is a pretty highly regarded young player among the scouting community. While some fans may worry about Viña's impact on Calafiori's playing time in the near term, we can't simply assume that Spinazzola will walk back to Trigoria in six months ready to pick up right where he left off, so getting a 23-year-old with over 80 professional appearances under his belt (and who has been capped at the international level) to complement Calafiori is sound team building all around.