John Fallon: Evan Ferguson may yet survive Roma’s transfer shake-up under Gasperini
Roma’s Evan Ferguson breaks away from Stuttgart’s Jeff Chabot during their Europa League tie. Pic: Giuseppe Fama/Inpho
Gian Piero Gasperini was presented with a cake to celebrate his 68th birthday this week but it’s unlikely that Evan Ferguson was helping his Roma boss blow out the candles.
In the volatile landscape of Serie A, the veteran is considered a steady hand.
He was headhunted for the job last summer, mandated to engineer the scale of improvement he’d overseen during a decade at the helm of Atalanta.
Years of languishing on the periphery has cast AS Roma as a sleeping giant and without screaming the Colosseum down Gasperini has managed to reawaken the team into a competitive force.
They sit third in the table just past the midway point of the campaign.
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Club powerbrokers are known to be confident of eroding the nine-point buffer to leaders Inter during the 16 games remaining and that’s not necessarily a positive for Ferguson.
They’ve backed Gasperini to deliver a first title since 2001 in this winter transfer market, financing his strikeforce additions of Donyell Malen and Robinio Vaz.
The only thing eternal in the Eternal city is the turnover of players Roma trade from window to window.
Both will cost €25m apiece, 18-year-old Vaz a permanent recruit from Marseille while Aston Villa will receive the same sum under the obligation to buy deal in the summer.
Ferguson is also on loan for the season but Roma must stump up the preordained fee of €35m to Brighton and Hove Albion in the summer to make the transfer permanent.
When Ukrainian Artem Dovbyk is factored in, it gives Gasperini a quartet of options for an orthodox striker.
That replicates the scale of attacking riches Alex Ferguson enjoyed, and insisted on, when his Manchester United side were in their pomp.
Dwight Yorke, Andy Cole, Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer all rotated as the Red Devils swept to their first treble in 1999.
With Roma vying for a double of Serie A and Europa League, the presumption that Ferguson will be offloaded by Monday’s deadline shouldn’t be taken as a given.
For starters, Dovbyk is crocked.
Last week’s surgery on a thigh injury is expected to keep him sidelined for three months.
Secondly, Vaz is considered a project player, the teenager possessing the raw materials to be sculpted into a seasoned striker capable of cutting it in one of the toughest leagues around Europe.
Malen has assumed the mantle as first-choice striker but he’s hardly the finished article either. His move from Borussia Dortmund to Villa wasn’t deemed a success, a return of seven goals over 35 appearances influencing Unai Emery’s decision to move him on.
For last Sunday’s clash against second placed AC Milan, Gasperini started Malen, introduced Vaz as a substitute and left Ferguson idling on the Stadio Olimpico bench.
The manager explained afterwards his selection and tactical decisions were based on the flow of the game, which ended 1-1 to keep both within touching distance of the summit.
Ferguson will probably be restored to spearhead the attack for tomorrow’s Europa League trip to Panathinaikos. Both of the new recruits are ineligible for the final two games of the league phase, facilitating the Irishman’s inclusion for last week’s win over Stuttgart. Although he didn’t score, the 21-year-old completed the 90 minutes.
While the loan deal is for the season, Roma have the option of ditching Ferguson in this window.
Transfer speculation is another level in Italy, leading to respected publications such as La Gazzetta dello Sport linking the tall forward with various destinations.
Among them have been title rivals Napoli, then Celtic and, most recently, Fulham. Brighton, regardless of where he’s domiciled, don’t foresee their academy graduate returning to his parent club until the summer.
Compared to Malen, Ferguson’s return of five goals in 22 appearances looks favourable. Add in the nature of Roma’s style and his haul shouldn’t be sole currency for judgement.
A mere 27 goals in their 22 league games have been scored, plummeting them to ninth on the leaderboard for goals.
Indicators of their ability to create chances are limited to that abominable XG, a calculation that estimates 1.62 goals per game. Evidently, Gasperini's strides so far are based on holding the best defensive record in the league.
Ferguson’s role in the Roma system, when deployed, is to drop deep, hold the ball up and spray the ball to runners or wingers. That’s not dissimilar to Brighton, albeit without Roma having a flanker in the vein of Kaoru Mitoma.
Clearly, from his gallery of quotes, Gasperini demanded more from Ferguson in terms of workrate, a non-negotiable aspect of Italian football culture.
That deficiency appears to be rectified, based upon the latest of his many takes, often garbled through translation.
“Ferguson has changed his attitude and probably his condition over the last few matches,” said Gasperini.
“Compared to a few months ago, he's a player who's in the game, who is present and who has his own weight. Then you can play more or less well, score goals or not and make better or worse gestures.
“But he seems to me like a present player and not intangible like at the start of the season.
“And he's a very young guy too, he's 21 years old, the important thing is that he gives some signals."
That doesn’t seem to be a character he’s ready to dispense with prematurely.
Sporting Director Frederic Massara is immersed in activity during the final days of the window but their desire to have their cake and it should see Ferguson’s Italian job through.
Emma Byrne may have been referring to Katie McCabe when she tempered her joy for Arsenal’s win over champions Chelsea with a warning of potential free agents.
Byrne holds legendary status at record appearances holder Arsenal, her role as goalkeeper in a golden period that included the 2007 Champions League still revered.
She’s also active on the current circuit, managing lower league Lewes, performing goalkeeping coach duties for Ireland as well as working in punditry.
For Byrne to take such an open swipe on X hints at discontent within the dressing-room at the hierarchy. Leah Williamson, Beth Mead and captain Kim Little are amongst the 10 frontliners facing into the last five months of their deal.
Ireland captain McCabe resides among the group too. She recently celebrated a decade at the club and the last extension, announced after the 2023 World Cup, expires in May.
As a backbone of last season’s Champions League triumph, Gunners fans wanted their regular left-wing back wedded to another deal but the 30-year-old could leave for nothing if terms aren’t agreed.
Manager Renee Slegers has been tied down for another three seasons but it’s known the hierarchy, which now includes new technical director Jodie Taylor, are eager to rid their tag as the oldest squad in the WSL.
Worried fans even thought McCabe was wiping away tears when saluting the crowd after the win that moves her third-placed team to within a point of Chelsea.
Teenagers continue to command the hefty fees on the League of Ireland beat with several deals due to be completed in the coming days.
Owen Elding was in Scotland yesterday to undergo a medical ahead of his move to Hibernian. The scorer of 12 goals last season for Sligo Rovers, helping him earn the Young Player of the Year award, was the subject of interest from clubs in the UK, Austria and Germany.
Contract duration determines bargaining power in such cases and the two years left on the 19-year-old’s deal afforded Sligo leverage in negotiations.
An initial sum of around €450,000 is the expected fee but the package favours incremental milestone increments which the League of Ireland envisage him achieving.
Dundalk’s Vinnie Leonard is another tyro set to move in 2026 for a similar amount.
Norwich City have made a late bid to hijack Brighton and Hove Albion’s desire to recruit the centre-back who turns 18 in March.
Bristol City are confident of wrapping up a €500,000 double deal for Bray Wanderers’ teen duo Billy O’Neill and Reece Knight.
On the home front, St Patrick’s Athletic are vying with Derry City to bring Limerick native Barry Cotter back from Conor Hourihane’s Barnsley. Simon Power’s knee injury forces him to miss at least the first three months of the Saints season, heightening the need for left-sided cover.
Today’s LOI launch, held in Whelan’s music venue, ought to reveal some updates.
john.fallon@examiner.ie.
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