Roma's grim financial situation behind Jadon Sancho transfer collapse as Claudio Ranieri fears UEFA punishment

Roma senior advisor Ranieri has delivered a stark assessment of the club's finances, confirming that players will need to be sold to ensure compliance with UEFA's Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations. Speaking to Sky Sport, the former Giallorossi manager insisted the club "can't afford" to be punished as they risk exclusion from European competition.

Ranieri's comments highlight the severe financial constraints dictating Roma's strategy both on and off the pitch. The primary objective is to balance the books, a necessity that prevented a summer move for Sancho and is now affecting contract talks with key players. The club's transfer policy is now focused on acquiring promising young talent who can be developed under new coach Gian Piero Gasperini and potentially sold on for a profit to satisfy FFP requirements.

Speaking on the matter, Ranieri said: "To get back within the FFP parameters, we'll have to sell. We'll have to keep our accounts in order. We'll see how the league goes, how we finish, how we perform in the Europa League.

"These are all incoming transfers that will bring added value. Then, eventually, we'll have to sell someone, because we can't afford to get a red card. The scenario is this: even if we were to fortunately reach the Champions League, with a [UEFA sanction] we wouldn't be able to compete. We really need to keep our accounts in order."

Speaking on Sancho, he added: "Financially, it was very, very difficult. But the [Roma owners] would have done it to please the coach. Of course, we would have had to sell someone: until a valuable player came along, we couldn't have done it. But I don't think that valuable player would ever have been sold, because we want to keep valuable players. More generally, we have brought in young players, hoping that with the new coach they will be fully developed. Because if necessary, we would eventually have to sell and comply with the parameters of this Financial Fair Play."

The club face a challenging period of balancing financial prudence with on-field ambition. The futures of captain Lorenzo Pellegrini and star forward Paulo Dybala are now uncertain, with decisions on their contracts effectively postponed pending their performances this season. It is highly likely that Roma will be forced to sell at least one valuable player in the upcoming transfer windows to align with UEFA's financial regulations.