Roma Look to Romanian Dennis Man for Right Wing Reinforcement

Roma continue their dogged pursuit of an inverted right winger much in the same way an online dater with very, very specific parameters looks for the love of their life. She has to be 5’6”, she has to have curly brown hair, blue eyes and work in the medical field; no ifs and or buts will do. For Monchi and EDF, their picture of beauty is a 20 to 24-year-old left footed right winger with a proclivity for cutting in and an ability to track back. While this makes sense tactically, given the tight parameters under which they’re working, Roma’s perpetual friendzoning is making Monchi’s job tough, leaving us to wonder how long his heart will go on.

With time running short, it appears as though Monchi has fired up his OK Calcio app and sorted by ‘newest first’, in hopes that some beleaguered sole has broadened their search for love, err...a new club.

According to Romanian sources, the latest object of Roma’s affection is Steaua Bucharest’s Dennis Man, a soon to be 20-year-old winger. And yes, before you ask, Monchi clicked on “left footed”, “right winger”, “no kids” and “has picture”, so all the standard boxes are checked. While Man had a trial with Manchester City as a youth, his professional career thus far has been split between Steaua and UTA Arad.

In 34 appearances for Steaua last season, Man scored 10 goals and four assists, and has already registered one goal and one assist in four appearances this season Liga I play; the Romanian season is already four weeks deep, fyi.

One quick Google search and you’ll see that Manchester United were connected with Man earlier this summer, and may have been turned off by his price tag, which was rumored to be as high as twenty-six million pounds, so the kid does have some street cred it seems.

However, RomaNews passed along a report from the Romanian media that indicates Man has suddenly become a top priority for Roma. With their initial attempt (€11 million) being rebuked by his Romanian counterpart, Monchi has reportedly upped the ante, offering €15 million. With the English transfer window closing last week, Manchester United are no longer a player for Man, but Roma are still facing competition from Anderlecht for the 19-year-old winger.

I have no idea where Man stands in the pecking order with some of other prodigies we’ve discussed this summer, but I can only assume this transfer is being driven by Roma’s latent Adrian Mutu desires.