Marco Borriello Heads to West Ham

Sometimes, well, all the time, really, the worst part of being a working adult is when your schedule inordinately and inevitably saves the worst, the most hectic, and the most frustrating tasks for Fridays. For Walter Sabatini and Roma, the story was no different, as they jammed a week's worth of work into a mere 48 hours.

Borriello: 'Arrivederci Roma!'

Now that Marco Borriello has finally accepted a loan move to West Ham, one of the stranger careers in Roma history comes to a rather ignominious conclusion. No one ever doubted Borriello's talents, but the circumstances in which he landed in Roma, on a free loan from Milan, and the immediate rewards, a game winning goal the very next week against Milan, pretty well encapsulates Borriello's time in the Eternal City, if not his career as a whole.

He's always had the talent, the instincts, and the panache, but the three never seemed in lockstep for more than a few matches at a time. He played for some of the biggest clubs in the land, but never really made his mark, yet he was always a sought after player. Borriello's failings aren't necessarily attributable to lack of talent or effort, and certainly not down to his supporting cast, but it's hard to precisely pin down why he wasn't more. Why was consistency seemingly always at arms reach? Why didn't his Genoa numbers translate at his other stops? Why wasn't he a slightly shorter and arguably more handsome version of Luca Toni that he seemed to be?

All told, Borriello's Roma career, which may not actually be over yet, features 50+ appearances and a dozen goals.

But, off he goes. Fathers of Upton Park, hided your daughters.

Burdisso "Had No Future at Roma"

The club made me understood they would have counted on other players. I had to think about myself, my present. And without a future at Roma, it was useless to wait for the summer, so I packed my bags and I left. I had to make the right choice. I still feel like I can play at these levels, I played for Roma and Inter, the best you can get...I didn’t speak with Garcia, but since the beginning we have been clear with each other. I am happy for my two team-mates, but I had to make different choices.

A rather pithy and professional quote from Burdisso, but at his age and with his final shot at dancing in the Big Show this summer, you can't fault Burdisso for chasing playing time at a lesser club.

Balzaretti Out For Two Months

Federico Balzaretti has been gone so long, we'd almost overlooked the fact that we never really received a true diagnosis. Well, consider that chapter closed. Balzaretti traveled all the way to Massachusetts for a sports hernia surgery. Not the most dire of circumstances, I'll grant you, but that probably spells a long and horrible flight back to Fiumincino.

Balzaretti has another year on his deal, but it's starting to feel as if his Roma career, at least in any significant way, is already coming to a close.

Heitinga: No News Is, Well, News

The only thing worse than a protracted transfer rumor is a protracted transfer rumor that carries with it the excitement of vanilla ice cream. Which, let's face it, isn't even really ice cream; its devoid of flavor and purpose. Could Roma do better than John Heitinga for their reserve centerback role? Sure, could they do worse? Absolutely.

It is what it is; sign him, don't sign him, just get a move one, would ya?

The Sanabria Saga Continues

Apparently the on again, off again, market fluctuating transfer of Barcelona B star Antonio Sanabria is once again on, with the young Paraguayan reportedly signed, sealed, and delivered for €4m. I'm sure you'll join me in saying, I'll believe it when I see it.

Roma Rid Themselves of Youth

Roma made some minor waves to close out the work week, parting ways with Gianluca Caprari, Giammario Piscitella, Federico Viviani, Alessandro Crescenzi and Tomas Svedkauskas.

50% of Caprari went to Pescara, Viviani heads down a level to Latina for six months, Crescenzi heads to Novara, while Svedkauskas heads to Pescara as well, or, as they're soon to be known, Roma Juniors. Not earth shattering moves in any sense, but better they play than watch.

Let's see, what else happened in Romaland today?.....Bam!

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>AS Roma would like to stress that there are no talks underway regarding the exit of Miralem Pjanic. The player is not for sale <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Pjanic&amp;src=hash">#Pjanic</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23ASR&amp;src=hash">#ASR</a></p>&mdash; A.S. Roma (@OfficialASRoma) <a href="https://twitter.com/OfficialASRoma/statuses/426745654853902338">January 24, 2014</a></blockquote><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

With each passing week, Miralem Pjanic's importance to this club, both as creator in the here and now, and as the bridge to Post-Totti Roma, grows exponentially. This isn't a secret--not to the club, its fans, or its competitors--but it is reassuring to see the club, in a semi-official capacity, slam the door on the latest round of Pjanic-to-Paris rumors.

That's just a quick taste of what went down in Trigoria the past 48 hours, we'll delve into the Verona fixture shortly.