Who will Ferguson’s Italian job resemble — Brady or Keane?
DEBUT: Evan Ferguson will make his debut for Roma at the Stadio Olimpico against Bologba on Saturday. Pic: Antonio Balasco/KONTROLAB/LightRocket via Getty Images
When Evan Ferguson scales the steps into the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday for his debut, he'll be greeted by a song to resonate with.
Flags wants to be waved among 70,000 crowd before kick-off against Bologna to the backdrop of the club anthem: 'Roma. Roma, Roma'.
At this embryonic stage of the Irishman's time in Italy, he's unlikely to grasp the language to translate all of the lyrics.
"Rome - doesn't it enchant you?," starts a verse. "You were born great and you must remain great.'
Ferguson for a long time was assumed to be a natural born talent.
Combining height with dexterity is seldom mastered by a striker but through his teenage years the boy from Bettystown in Co Meath exhibited his array of traits at every level encountered.
A Premier League hat-trick at 18 accelerated the hype machine to the extent he was being labelled Brighton and Hove Albion's next €100m sale.
What's more, while everything else was excitable, his demeanour remained unchanged.
Post-match interviews were notable for his monotonal answers, devoid of hyperbole.
Budding gems are advised to remain the middle ground which is just as well considering the relative fall that followed the rise.
Statistics will show the last of his Premier League goals was scored 10 months ago.
What it won't show is that the majority of his 20 games since, including the international he scored in against Bulgaria in March, have involved bit-part roles.
Fitness from injury recovery was one milestone but arguably his biggest challenge has been to gain match fitness from consistency of games.
Gian Piero Gasperini is wise enough to spot traits others don't, explaining why he was prepared to run the gamble of recruiting a player with a miserly return of one league goal last season.
That he was content to allow seasoned pro, England international Tammy Abraham, depart on loan to make room for Ferguson speaks of the trust he places in a forward with much to prove.
Gasperini doesn't have much margin of error himself.
He worked wonders at Atalanta, lifting the 2024 Europe League by shocking Bayer Leverkusen, but doesn't have the pedigree of lifting the Scudetto either as player or coach.
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Patience will be afforded for the rebuild, especially with ally Claudio Ranieri operating upstairs, but only to a point.
Rafa Benitez seems on the money by predicting a two-horse race between champions Napoli and Inter Milan.
Although Roma haven't won Italy's biggest prize since 2001 there's an understanding that fifth last season, 13 points off the summit, won't be acceptable again.
Gasperini has openly expressed his frustrations at the summer transfer window, missing targets will staving off interest in Artem Dovbyk. The Ukrainian took ownership of Abraham's No 9 shirt but continues to be linked with an exit.
Ferguson's frame will fill the No 11 jersey and should be supported behind by a couple of Argentinians at opposite stages of their careers.
Pablo Dybala will be 32 in November, almost 10 years older than Matias Soulé, who also arrived from Juventus last year. He's yet to justify the €30m outlay.
Another player with a major price tag, Jadon Sancho, has so far declined to become the latest troubled genius for Gasperini to sprinkle his magic on.
Not quite off the table with just under a fortnight left in the window, it appears the Italians will concentrate on more willing recruits than the Manchester United outcast.
Irrespective of late squad turnover, the focus on Ferguson to deliver is laser-like.
Pre-season matches tended to revolve around the Irishman as the outball and yet the common conclusion is that his finishing will define his tenure.
It will ultimately determine if Roma are confident to activate the €40m buy option.
It's 35 years since an Irishman lit up Italian football.
Juventus plumped for Liam Brady as their first overseas recruit after the ban on foreign signings was lifted.
Two seasons extracted two titles; the second in 1982 sealed by his penalty against Catanzaro.
Robbie Keane's 2000 switch to Inter Milan provoked comparisons, only for it to be brief.
Marcello Lippi's sacking, coupled with the appointment of Marco Tardelli, conspired to restrict his presence to 14 appearances. Keane and Tardelli would later work together with Ireland.
Landing somewhere in the centre of those spells on the success scale would suffice for Ferguson.
Pressure sits easily on the 20-year-old's shoulders. All he has to show in the Eternal City is that greatness is permanent, not fleeting.
E: john.fallon@examiner.ie
European ties create avenues for millions of revenue but also that byproduct of comparing the League of Ireland to competitors.
For instance, a chasm in standards between this Island's entities was noted when Shamrock Rovers hammered Larne last year, in the same way Shelbourne's success over Linfield wasn't a surprise.
Three years ago an emphatic 3-0 aggregate win for Sligo Rovers over Motherwell raised questions about the closeness to the Celtic cousins. Celtic and Rangers apart, it was generally accepted LOI teams would hold their own.
Except that doesn't correlate when it comes to player valuations. Victor Ozhianvuna upcoming pre-contract deal with Arsenal will gross Shamrock Rovers just over €2m, breaking the export record set in February by Tottenham agreeing a similar arrangement with their North London rivals, Tottenham.
Motherwell last week offloaded their prize teen asset for €5.5m. Udinese trawled these parts for a bargain, shelling out €600,000 for St Patrick's Athletic's James Abankwah in 2022. If he returns from his second loan at sister club Watford to Italy, meeting him will be Lennon Miller. Motherwell were chuffed to confirm they banked a record fee for the 18-year-old who last season wore the captain's armband against Rangers.
Being the financial controller of the FAI to deliver grim tidings hasn't been easy and the latest supremo, Dan McCormack, is saying goodbye.
He's just over two years in the post and was responsible for addressing queries from Government committees and members at AGMs and general meetings.
Latest available figures, up to December 2023, showed the association heaving under €40m of debt. The wait for last year's sum prolongs as the AGM has now been pushed out until November 8, due to an EGM getting called for October 4.
The chief bean counter is the latest high-profile exit from the FAI in recent months, decimating the senior leadership team. Marc Canham was the most high-profile but Walter Holleran, Hannah Dingley and company secretary Derry Coughlan also quit. Vice-President John Finnegan didn't see out his term either.
Eagerly awaited coming the other way is Canham's replacement as chief football officer.
Various interesting candidates have emerged during the recruitment rounds, including a former Ireland international working at an English club and a left-field candidate with a League of Ireland and finance background. Yet the emerging sense is that John Morling will be returning to the FAI. He held development roles before joining Brighton as recruitment head and returned to assist newcomer Canham for an initial spell in 2022. The suspense is due to conclude shortly.
