The furore surrounding Edin Dzeko’s future might have died down a little but, while the Roma talisman is back in the team, it seems an explosive fall-out with coach Paulo Fonseca has consequences.
“Right now Edin is not the captain,” Giallorossi director Tiago Pinto told Goal a fortnight ago, backing Fonseca’s decision to strip the former Mancheser City striker of his beloved armband.
It was Bryan Cristante who led Roma out during their 2-0 Europa League triumph over Braga on Thursday night. And, when the midfielder was subbed off in the second half, he handed the armband over to Gianluca Mancini, rather than Dzeko.
The 24-year-old centre-back is a huge presence on and off the field at the Stadio Olimpico, with some supporters dubbing him the ‘Futuro Capitan’.
Another solid performance at the heart of Fonseca’s backline during a comfortable away win in the round-of-32 first leg has done Mancini’s hopes of donning the armband on a more regular basis no harm at all.
According to Rome-based publication Leggo, Carlo Ancelotti’s Everton and Antonio Conte’s Inter Milan are big fans of the £20 million Italy international.
Everton, interestingly, tried to sign him in 2019 too, when Marco Silva was still the coach and Mancini was honing his talents at Atalanta (Mirror).
But, clearly, the Giallorrossi see Mancini as not just the future of their defence. He may also be the man to inherit the crown once worn by the legendary Francesco Totti, the eighth King of Rome.
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