With Kluivert Close to Fulham, Belotti Could Sign for Roma This Weekend

For as skeptical as Romanisti were during the Paulo Dybala transfer saga in terms of the move actually coming to fruition, the process itself was straightforward and wrapped up relatively quickly once it became clear that Roma were the frontrunners for La Joya’s services.

Maybe that’s recency bias talking, but Roma have had no such luck in securing the services of one Andrea Belotti. The Giallorossi have been the obvious frontrunner for Il Gallo for weeks, and yet, the season has already started and the former Torino man has yet to put pen to paper on a contract with Roma. Of course, it’s not a question of haggling over salary, bonuses, years of service, or any other one of your typical contractual roadblocks.

Instead, it’s a matter of too many cooks in the kitchen, and until Tiago Pinto can ship out any one of the forwards that are surplus to requirements, the Belotti deal is on hold.

Thankfully, reports are indicating that Pinto is close to clearing step one of this two-step process, with Justin Kluivert closer to Fulham than ever before.

With the exits of Eldor Shomurodov and Felix Afena-Gyan completely on pause or early in the process, respectively, Kluivert was always the most likely candidate to facilitate Belotti’s arrival to Roma.

And if you had any doubts as to whether a forward leaving was really what was holding up this deal, we have you covered there too.

According to Calciomercato, Belotti could arrive in Rome as soon as this weekend! Talk about having your bags already packed, right? Of course, a quick turnaround was always to be expected given what was holding this deal up, and an arrival this weekend gives Belotti a week to gain some familiarity with his teammates in advance of a massive clash against Juventus, where you could easily envision him having some part to play, especially if Roma are in need of a goal late in the match.

I know we’re all tired of reading how close this one is, but patience, folks. Roma’s longest transfer saga of the summer could finally be coming to a close.