With Roger Ibañez Gone, Roma Now Looks to Oumar Solet

With Roma's pursuit of Santos forward Marcos Leonardo stuck in neutral, leaving the club to feed off Atalanta's scraps, we have some good news to report: we can finally talk about something else!

Now that Roger Ibañez is off to Saudi side Al-Ahli in a deal that could climb north of the €30 million mark (plus a reported 20% sell-on clause), Roma's transfer eyes now move to the defense. In an act of desperation, the rumor rags quickly linked the Giallorossi to Merih Demiral, yet another wantaway Atalanta player, but our old pal Gianluca Di Marzio dropped a new and slightly more interesting name into the mix.

According to Signore Di Marzio, Roma has tabbed Red Bull Salzburg defender Oumar Solet as their top Ibañez replacement. A 23-year-old French center-back, Solet joined Salzburg in 2020 after cutting his teeth with Lyon. With less than 5,000 league minutes to his name, Solet is a bit wet behind the ear, but what he lacks in experience, he makes up with size. Standing 6'3", Solet would join Chris Smalling (6'4"), Marash Kumbulla (6'3"), and Evan N'Dicka (6'3") to form one of Serie A's more statuesque backlines.

While Di Marzio doesn't offer any specifics, he does mention that Roma would prefer to take Solet on loan. And if you've been paying attention to the club's transfer antics this summer, you can already guess where this is heading.