Official: Roma Signs Elin Landström

AS Roma has existed for nearly 100 years, and throughout that near-century of capitoline calcio, the club has augmented its distinctly local flair with various Brazilian, Argentine, and French footballers. And every so often, the club seems to lean heavily into one of those avenues. You may remember the distinct Brazilian and Argentinian flavor of the late 2010s Giallorossi squads, with Federico Fazio, Leandro Paredes, Javier Pastore, and Diego Perotti (all Argentinians) and Alisson Becker, Gerson, Burno Peres, Juan Jesus and Leandro Castan (all Brazilians) imbuing Italy's capital club with a distinct South American style.

Roma's women's team only sprang to life in 2018, but the club has already shown a particular predilection for Scandinavian talents. From Emilie Haavi to Sophie Roman Haug to Beta Kolmatts to Mina Bergensen to Emma Lind, the Giallorosse has mined a lot of talent from the northernmost reaches of Europe.

And earlier this week, the club unveiled the latest in a long line of Scandinavian talents, inking Swedish full-back Elin Landström to a one-year deal:

Landström, 30, arrives in Roma from Inter Milan, where she made 19 appearances during the 2021-2022 season. While most of her career was spent in her native Sweden, Landström brings crucial Champions League experience to the Giallorossi, making a handful of appearances with Swedish clubs Umeå and Linköping. Couple that with her Serie A experience and she becomes an ideal signing for Roma.

A point Head of Women's Football Betty Bavagnoli was quick to point out:

It is with great pleasure that we welcome Elin to the club... We wanted her here because she already knows the Italian league well, but also because - thanks to her experience overseas - we believe she will be able to further contribute to the development of our project.

We will definitely be counting on her to help us achieve the targets that we have already set ourselves.

For her part, Landström was equally excited about Roma's upcoming Champions League adventure:

I’m very happy to be representing Roma for the upcoming season... The club has high ambitions and that’s something I really wanted to be a part of.

I am really excited for the possibility to play in the Champions League again and I’m looking forward to seeing what we can achieve together as a team this season!

A natural lefty, Landström primarily plays at left-back but has experience as a central defender. In 19 appearances for Inter last season, including 13 starts, Landström completed 75% of her passes, won 77% of her aerial duels, 54% of her tackle attempts, and provided two assists in approximately 1,300 minutes, with Inter maintaining a +5 goal differential while she was on the pitch.

And as if all that weren't enough, Landström has a law degree and has been a vocal advocate for female footballers in her native Sweden, having represented her colleagues in the Swedish Footballers Association.

While she only signed a one-year deal with the club, given her experience and versatility, Landström should fit in well with a full-back rotation that features club captain Elisa Bartoli, Lucia Di Guglielmo, and young Angelica Soffia.