Football Season Guide

28 years after his debut in the junior team, Francesco Totti at last ended his career-long love affair with Roma, having decided to retire, and so the Wolves will now have to start life without their most iconic player. It was a rather busy summer for the Giallorossi as they did not only see the departure of their legend but also the end of their second stint with Luciano Spalletti and also the departure of General Manager, Walter Sabatini, who were both lured by Inter's money. It took Roma some time before deciding but they eventually invested in former player, Eusebio Di Francesco, who was capable of real wonders during his stint at Sassuolo. Totti aside, other players left during the summer too. Players who had proven more decisive than the Pupone in the past campaigns. This is certainly the case of the solid goalie Wojciech Szczesny, who returned to his parent club, Arsenal, only to later sign for Juventus. Antonio Rudiger, who should have left in the past campaign but had been stopped by an injury, eventually joined Chelsea. Leandro Paredes, who had proven a talented midfielder also left along with the unpredictable Mohamed Salah. Having seen those players quit, Roma management had to strengthen all the departments of the squad. While Alisson Becker, who had a couple of positive seasons as Szczesny's alternative, should be set to start in goal, Łukasz Skorupski was called back from a loan at Empoli to be his deputy. The new additions include Rick Karsdorp from Feyenoord and Aleksandar Kolarov, a former Lazio player, who arrives from Manchester City. They should be the full-backs, instead of Bruno Peres and Emerson, in a 4-3-3 formation with Federico Fazio and Kostas Manolas confirmed in the heart of the defence. Hector Moreno will provide back-up. In the midfield, Di Francesco will be spoilt for choice as he can rely on Daniele De Rossi, Kevin Strootman, Radja Nainggolan and the new-comers Lorenzo Pellegrini, who proved all his talent with Sassuolo, and Maxime Gonalons, who impressed the Wolves when they were defeated by Olympique Lyonnais in last season's Europa League. The attack was certainly weakened by Salah's departure but a couple of important players also arrived: Gregoire Defrel, also from Sassuolo, could act both like a winger or a centre-forward instead of Edin Dzeko, the former Serie A top scorer, and the promising Cengiz Under could also give some depth to the wings. However, versatile Alessandro Florenzi's return to the pitch after two serious injuries could represent the best arrival for Roma!