Roma’s amazing sold players XI

Roma are one of the best clubs in Italy and in the last five years, they finished second in the league thrice and in the third position twice. They also reached the semifinal of the Champions League last season after overturning a 4-1 deficit from the first leg to beat Barcelona in the quarterfinal.

What’s stopping them from going all the way in the league and in cup competitions is probably their inability to keep their top players. They cannot be blamed for this as there are several other clubs across Europe that can offer more money and a better chance of winning silverware.

Their current director of football, Monchi, is renowned for replacing outgoing stars with bargain buys. This is what’s helping them sustain their consecutive run of finishes in a Champions League place.

That being said, one cannot help but wonder how brilliant this Roma team would have been if they managed to keep their best players. So here is a brilliant XI featuring only players sold by Roma and are currently active.

Honourable mentions: Hector Moreno, Alessio Romagnoli, Vasilis Torosidis, Urby Emanuelson, Adem Ljajic, Mattia Destro, Jeremy Menez, Fabio Borini, Gervinho and Iago Falque

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Goalkeeper: Alisson Becker (Liverpool)

Alisson joined Roma in 2016 and spent his first season in Europe as an understudy to Wojciech Szczęsny. A year later, the Brazilian was starting in goal for Roma on a regular basis after the Pole moved to Juventus on a permanent deal.

Even though Alisson wasn’t a regular for Roma in his first season, he was Brazil’s #1 since the end of 2015.

The 2017/18 season saw the best of the Brazilian. He was one of the best goalkeepers in Europe and had the second-best save success rate in Europe’s Top 5 leagues after Jan Oblak.

He was on the radar of Real Madrid, Chelsea and Liverpool. Eventually, the Merseyside club signed him for £56 million plus £9 million in add-ons. This makes him the most expensive goalkeeper in the world.

Centre-backs: Mehdi Benatia (Juventus), Marquinhos (PSG) and Antonio Rudiger (Chelsea)

Roma have sold a lot of top central defenders in recent years which is why the likes of Mexico’s Hector Moreno and Milan’s Alessio Romagnoli do not feature in this XI.

Mehdi Benatia joined Roma from Udinese in 2013 and spent just one season at the club before joining Bayern Munich. During his only season with Roma, he was named the club’s player of the season and in the Serie A Team of the Year.

He has since played for Bayern Munich and Juventus and won the league title in all four seasons with the two giants of Europe.

Marquinhos joined Roma when he was 18-years-old from Corinthians for a mere €1.5 million and was sold to PSG a year later for €31.4 million! It was one of the highest fees paid for a teenager and a defender at that time but over the years, the Brazilian has lived up to the price tag.

He played as a centre-back and right-back for Roma in his only season and helped the club reach the final of the Coppa Italia in 2013 which they ultimately lost to arch-rivals Lazio.

Antonio Rudiger spent the 2015/16 season on loan at Roma from Stuttgart for €4 million and at the end of an impressive first season, Roma made his move permanent for €9 million + €0.5m bonuses.

In his two seasons at the club, he played 72 games while playing a key role in their good form in the league in both seasons. In 2017, he moved to Chelsea £29 million and won the FA Cup in his debut season in England.

Roma, meanwhile, made a huge profit on another player.

Wing-backs: Tin Jedvaj (Bayer Leverkusen) and Emerson Palmieri (Chelsea)

The versatile defender, Tin Jedvaj, spent only one season at Roma and played just two games before he was sold to Bayer Leverkusen. He was only 19-years-old when he left Roma and was a player with huge potential.

At Leverkusen, he has played 80 games since his arrival. At the international level, he has been a regular member of the Croatia team and was part of the silver medal winning team at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

The other wingback, Emerson Palmieri, joined Chelsea in January 2018, following in the footsteps of Antonio Rudiger.

Palmieri initially spent his time at Roma as a backup to Lucas Digne and later to Aleksandar Kolarov. A serious injury during his stint at Roma didn’t help his case either.

Nevertheless, Roma received €20 million plus €9 million bonus for the 23-year-old.

Midfielders: Radja Nainggolan (Inter Milan), Miralem Pjanic (Juventus) and Leandro Paredes (Zenit)

Radja Nainggolan spent his entire professional career in Italy and a significant period with Roma. The Belgian played 203 games for the club scoring 33 goals between 2014 and 2018.

While he was with Roma, he was named Roma’s player of the season in 2016/17 and in the Serie A Team of the Year in 2014/15, 2015/16 and 2016/17. The 30-year-old chose to join rivals Inter Milan ahead of the upcoming season where he will join his former Roma manager Luciano Spalletti.

Miralem Pjanic is another former Roma player who joined their Serie A rivals. The Bosnian joined Roma from Lyon in 2011 and played 185 games for Roma scoring 30 goals before leaving them in 2016 to join Juventus.

In his final two seasons with Roma, he had the most assists in the Serie A and in his last season with the club, he was named in the Serie A team of the year. He has been equally influential since his move to Juventus.

The final midfielder in this list is the 24-year-old Argentine international Leandro Paredes. First of all, it was surprising that Paredes didn’t feature in Argentina’s World Cup squad despite their shortage of quality central midfielders.

His first spell with Roma was on loan and later, he joined the club permanently. In total, he played 54 times for the club before he was sold to Russian giants Zenit Saint Petersburg for €23 million with possible future €4 million.

Forwards: Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) and Erik Lamela (Spurs)

The two forwards on this list have had contrasting fortunes since their move to the Premier League.

Mohamed Salah turned out to be a bargain for Liverpool since his move in 2017. The Egyptian enjoyed a record-breaking season with the Reds scoring 44 times in all competitions.

Salah scored 32 goals in his debut Premier League season with Liverpool which is the most goals any player has scored in a 38-game Premier League season.

Salah’s record for Roma was also quite impressive. In 83 games, he scored 34 goals for the club from the Italian capital.

Lamela, on the other hand, has had an injury-ridden spell with Spurs after joining them in 2013. He has so far played 149 games for the North London club in five seasons and scored 24 goals.

While he was at Roma, he scored 21 goals in 67 games across two seasons. In his second and final season with the club, he scored 15 goals and assisted five more in 36 games. This is what prompted Spurs to sign him for a then club record £25.8 million, plus up to £4.2 million in bonus payment.