Is Roma’s freezing-out policy really working?

There are certain sport-specific phrases that foreign fans of teams will pick up over time through the frequency of their following of the club’s affairs, and in Roma’s case, most non-Italian supporters have become well accustomed to the term ‘fuori rosa’ in recent years.

Literally translating to ‘out of the squad’, it is a fate that has been imposed upon a not-insignificant number of Roma players deemed as no longer suitable fits for whichever project the club have been trying to build at a particular moment in time.

At the start of the Jose Mourinho era it was the likes of Federico Fazio, Pedro, Davide Santon and Javier Pastore. Soon after, it was Rick Karsdorp (who would later suffer the same fate in the summer of 2024 despite having regained his place in the squad after his initial dropping). Now, most recently, Nicola Zalewski has been cut out of the equation, despite Daniele De Rossi using him in some form during all three of Roma’s first matches of the 2024-25 Serie A season.

Having earlier in the summer refused a move to PSV, Zalewski’s ultimate decision to turn down a late transfer to Galatasaray – while also reportedly rejecting a last-throw-of-the-dice contract renewal offer from a somewhat reluctant Roma – has soured the club’s view of him and led to him being banished from the first-team picture, a few months before he would be eligible to arrange a pre-contract free move to another club for next season.

From a technical point of view, limiting Zalewski’s involvement is justified. He has now made 109 appearances for Roma – believe it or not, the longest uninterrupted spell straight out of the club’s academy without any loan spell away since a certain De Rossi himself – but has only scored twice. His emergence – a double-headed term, since the circumstances that led to it were something of an emergency – as an auxiliary wing-back in the second half of Mourinho’s first season at Roma was refreshing, showing a confident player willing to adapt his game and learn to help the team. Zalewski played with confidence and no burden of pressure as he earned a Europa Conference League winner’s medal.

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But things have not progressed since as he would have liked. Rarely afforded a chance in his preferred position further forward as a winger – at least until De Rossi changed Roma’s formation to a back four, by which point he was already overshadowed by negative perceptions due to his tendency to give the ball away with inaccurate crosses or passes, not to mention his weakness (or theatricality) when on the receiving end of challenges – the Poland international, who has operated more vibrantly for his country, has stagnated. The contrast between Zalewski on international duty and during his more regular work with Roma has been perplexing.

Now, though, it appears there will be no attempt to solve it. Disheartened at his decision to deny them what would have been an eight-figure windfall for a player with an expiring contract, Roma have removed Zalewski from their first team.

De Rossi has insisted it was the club’s decision, not his, explaining: “His situation is linked to his expiring contract. The decision to exclude him wasn’t mine. He’s someone I considered important in pre-season. The club made this decision and I was informed of it a few days ago.”

The caveat, though, is that De Rossi is open to reintegrating Zalewski if he does entertain a new contract.

“I don’t think the decision to freeze him out is final,” the coach added. “If he were to renew his deal, he would be allowed back.”

For now, in what feels like another game of cat and mouse, there will be no sight of Zalewski any time soon.

Given his lack of impact over the past couple of seasons, it seems strange for his exclusion to be the catalyst for this debate, but have Roma’s multiple ‘fuori rosa’ verdicts had the desired effect, or not?

If, initially, it was a way to send a strong message to unwanted players that they ought to accept proposals to leave, why does it keep happening? Besides, many of the players Roma have frozen out have, for a variety of reasons, ended up leaving the club for free. Has the club’s decision-making devalued some of their assets?

It could be argued not, given that most were on the decline. But in Zalewski’s case, Roma and a potential buyer had just been in agreement that the player’s worth was above €10m. Roma, not through their own fault, are as things stand unlikely to see a single cent of such a sum when Zalewski leaves, with his value depreciating naturally with his contract. But they still have to pay his wages. Would it not be more prudent to try and eek some final form of return out of that commitment?

With Stephan El Shaarawy still at the club and Alexis Saelemaekers arriving on loan from AC Milan, Zalewski himself may well be surplus to requirements. But Roma didn’t acquire the top-class upgrade on the left wing they were hoping for this summer. Saelemaekers was better than Zalewski last season while at Bologna, but on paper there might not be so much in it.

And the 22-year-old, born on the outskirts of Rome, appeared willing to fight to prove himself – if only for the next few months – only to be denied that opportunity. As compatriot and fellow former Roma player Zbigniew Boniek has argued, Zalewski’s supposed passion for the club has been overlooked. Boniek told Radio Romanista: “He loves the city, the club and colours. He didn’t do anything to be out of the squad. He always gave the best of himself. Like all footballers he can have a drop, I don’t think he did anything to deserve this. It doesn’t make any sense.”

Besides, just because a transfer falls through does not mean a player cannot become useful again. The context was different, but cast your mind back to January 2020, when Leonardo Spinazzola’s exit for Inter fell through due to medical issues. The wing-back was reintegrated by Roma and vastly improved to the extent he became a key player (and, coincidentally, one whose absence due to a serious injury would later lead to Zalewski’s breakthrough into the team).

Now, it’s not to say that Zalewski – who has struggled for imagination on the pitch in recent years and was a demoralising sight in the starting lineup on the opening day of the season – would be capable of such a revival. Instead, it’s a wider-reaching point that could be applied to anyone.

Perhaps a time will have to come when Roma just use the players they once deemed worthy of giving good contracts to, even if it is fractionally, rather than freezing them out altogether. If Zalewski has played his last game for the club regardless, not too many will bemoan the fact, but this isn’t the first time something like this has happened. What if it isn’t the last either?

Zalewski was already on course to end his Roma career shrouded by lots of ‘why’ – or ‘why not’ – questions. Why was he a different player for his country than his club? Was it purely due to his position? Why couldn’t he maintain his initial confidence in a Roma shirt? Did he become overused and burn out? Now, for the next few months at least, it seems there will be more whys and what could have beens when unpacking the tale of a promising player whose potential has become a fading, distant figure of imagination.