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| The Roma players Romelu Lukaku and Lorenzo Pellegrini during the match Roma v Milan at the Stadio Olimpico. Rome (Italy), September 01st, 2023. |
Roma have left new signings Sardar Azmoun and Rasmus Kristensen out of their Europa League squad, but included injured Tammy Abraham and Marash Kumbulla, because of Romelu Lukaku.
The Giallorossi reached the Final of this tournament last season, capitulating to Sevilla only after a penalty shoot-out, as they drew 1-1 over 120 minutes.
This time around, they have been drawn in a group with Slavia Prague, Sheriff and Servette.
For several years now, Roma have had to deal with the tight restrictions of the settlement agreement with UEFA over Financial Fair Play.
That includes the ‘transfer balance’ – so the current squad must be worth the same or less than last season’s group.
If that value is off balance, then the one way to get it back onto the right level is by leaving out new signings rather than those who were already part of the team.
Therefore, in order to make room for Lukaku, Roma have to leave out fellow new signings Azmoun and Kristensen.
It effectively leaves Jose Mourinho short of two players, because Abraham and Kumbulla are present to make up the numbers, but they are unlikely to play in the group stage because they are recovering from anterior cruciate ligament surgery.
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There is some good news, as Nicola Zalewski, Pietro Boer, Edoardo Bove and Riccardo Pagano are youth academy products and therefore available under the B List.
Roma squad
Goalkeepers: Rui Patricio, Mile Svilar
Defenders: Chris Smalling, Evan Ndicka, Diego Llorente, Leonardo Spinazzola, Gianluca Mancini, Marash Kumbulla, Zeki Celik, Rick Karsdorp
Midfielders: Bryan Cristante, Leandro Paredes, Renato Sanches, Houssem Aouar, Lorenzo Pellegrini; Stephan El Shaarawy, Paulo Dybala, Andrea Belotti, Tammy Abraham, Romelu Lukaku
B List: Pietro Boer, Riccardo Pagano, Nicola Zalewski, Edoardo Bove