Roma - Di Natale, Iaquinta or Vucinic?

The sale of spurned Brazilian winger Mancini has injected some much-needed cash into Roma’s books - €13m to be exact. Now that the race to name his successor in the Italian capital has begun, it seems only two players are being mentioned. One of these men would fit particularly well within Luciano Spalletti’s favoured 4-2-3-1 scheme, and he is Antonio Di Natale.

According to Sport Italia journalist, Valentina Ballarini, “Di Natale is the right man for Roma, given Mancini’s departure. He has all the necessary characteristics to take over in what used to be Mancini’s role.”

Notwithstanding the contract extension his client has signed with Udinese, Di Natale’s agent, Patrick Bastianelli, appears to be ready to listen to any offer the Giallorossi may make: “Di Natale is absolutely the right player for Roma, bearing in mind his characteristics and I am convinced that Roma would get a real bargain for him. In my opinion, there is every possibility that the two clubs will negotiate.”

Meanwhile, others like Daniele Caiola of Sport Italia believe Roma already have their man in Mirko Vucinic: “From my perspective, Roma already have the player to replace Mancini out on the left - Vucinic. He will be the one to take over. If Roma must buy, they ought to recruit some young talent.”

Still, others have indicated that Vincenzo Iaquinta would be best suited to play in Roma’s attack. Ubaldo Rightetti, who was part of the Roma side that won the Scudetto in 1983, had this to say on the man currently at Juve: “While any club would be lucky to have Di Natale, I feel Roma need a different type of player - Iaquinta, for example.”

It remains to be seen then if Roma decide to concentrate their efforts on Di Natale or Iaquinta, or instead opt to harness the talent of Vucinic. In any case, they will need to find a substitute who can offer the sort of assurances that Mancini did during his spell at the Olimpico.

Luca Mirenzi