Report: Roma Could Move for Marcel Sabitzer

With Roma's dogged pursuit of Sassuolo midfielder Davide Frattesi offering more hearsay than headway, it won't be long before the club shifts its gaze elsewhere as they attempt to beef up José Mourinho's midfield. And if there's one thing we know about Mourinho, it's this: if you're a tenacious, do-it-all player, you'll soon find a special place in The Special One's heart.

Enter Marcel Sabizter, who, according to the Corriere dello Sport, is the latest name linked with a move to the Eternal City. While he's not exactly a stranger to the Roma rumor mill, with the club so intently focused on Frattesi and with Mourinho putting in a call to PSG's wantaway maestro Marco Verratti, seeing Sabitzer's name pop up was still a bit surprising—even for me, someone who has been stumping for this move for almost 18 months now.

Sabizter, a 29-year-old Austrian midfielder, parlayed his impressive run at Euro 2020 (played in the summer of 2021) into a €15 million move to Bayern Munich on transfer deadline day in 2021. However, as is often the case when good but not great players move to mega clubs, Sabitzer spent more time on the pine than the pitch, logging only 900 Bundesliga minutes during the 2021-2022 season.

While Sabitzer gave it the old college try the following season, the German giants soon loaned out the Austrian utilityman to Manchester United last January. Rather than finding a new lease on life, Sabitzer found life in the north of England just as frustrating as Bavaria, making only 11 Premiership appearances totaling 627 minutes last spring.

With no space for him at the Allianz Arena, Sabitzer will likely spend the upcoming season on loan, prompting the Corriere to connect him with Roma, who could snap up the versatile midfielder on loan for the upcoming season.

While I find it hard to hide my Sabitzer bias, given his incredibly deep and diverse skillset, he'd make a valuable addition with or without Frattesi.