Roma and Juventus Reportedly Vying for Empoli's Tommaso Baldanzi

With Roma's rumor mill spinning its wheels, churning out updates that amount to little more than "Marcel Sabitzer is convinced by Mourinho but needs more time to see if Thomas Tuchel likes him or like-likes him" or "West Ham wants to sell Gianluca Scamacca outright but might be open to a loan," we'll spare you from that melodrama to focus on a new name on the transfer market: Empoli's attacking prodigy Tommaso Baldanzi.

The 20-year-old Siena native had an impressive rookie season, scoring four goals in approximately 1,700 minutes while playing a pivotal role in the Empoli attack. Despite his young age, he started in 25 out of 27 appearances and was instrumental in creating opportunities in the final third. And according to Calciomercato.com, that performance didn't go unnoticed, as both Roma and Juventus are battling for his services.

While the report doesn't get too deep into the weeds, they speculate that if Juventus prevails in the battle for Baldanzi, they plan on keeping him with Empoli for the upcoming season. Now, Roma may very well do the same thing, but as his debut season proved, the kid can already hang in Serie A, so perhaps he could slot in behind Paulo Dybala in the attacking rotation for José Mourinho next season.

This rumor is in its infancy, but in addition to Juventus and Roma, Baldanzi is attracting interest from reigning Serie A champions Napoli, Portuguese side Benfica and German giants Borussia Dortmund.

If his first season was any indication, Roma better act fast—he won't be on the market for long.