Report: Roma Close to Mancini Renewal, Cristante Up Next

As the great Don Draper once said, “Sometimes you gotta dance with the one that brought ya”. Sure, the summer is usually focused on the players coming in to the club - particularly if you’re a club looking to get over the hump - but the summer also affords the opportunity to sit down and lock up key members of the squad for years to come without the distraction of the season taking place simultaneously. Whether it be a reward for a strong campaign or a show of faith in a player, getting these extensions done and dusted with your key players is almost as crucial as bringing in player X that you believe will transform the team.

As we all know, Tiago Pinto has been hard at work during his short tenure at the club - from getting rid of the deadwood from the previous regime, to trimming the bloated wage bill, to bringing in the players that Jose Mourinho needs for Roma to take a leap in Year Two of this project - it’s been a busy time for the former Benfica man.

And according to latest reports, renewals for Gianluca Mancini and Bryan Cristante are next up on the priority list for the summer:

Regardless of whether you feel that these extensions are warranted or not, Mancini and Cristante are both consistent fixtures in the national team set-up, and are both clearly players that Mourinho enjoys working with, so it’s a no-brainer in my mind to lock up both players for the next few years.

Mancini is arguably the more important of the two contract renewals, with Roger Ibanez often named alongside Nicolo Zaniolo as a potential sale to balance the books, and with Marash Kumbulla linked with a move to Torino in recent weeks, it’s crucial for Pinto to get this done and ensure Roma’s starting CB tandem is set for the upcoming season.

Cristante’s renewal could be considered a bit more of a luxury, but he’s certainly shown enough to warrant an extension, and it’d be tough to replace his leadership and ability to play multiple roles in the market with so many other positions higher on the priority list for Pinto. And with Sergio Oliveira headed back to Porto and Jordan Veretout likely headed for the exit door, Roma can ill afford to worry about losing yet another midfielder.

Once these extensions are finalized, let us know who you think Pinto should focus on renewing next.