There have now been 10 players Roma have signed in the month of February over the years, due to the dates of the January transfer deadline.
Mixed fortunes have been endured by them all, so here they are in chronological order.
Marco Motta (2009)
The first player Roma ever signed in a February was Marco Motta, who joined midway through the 2008-09 season.
A right-back, Motta made the move from Udinese when he was 22 years old. His task was to provide competition in the full-back departments, with main options Christian Panucci and Marco Cassetti both the wrong side of 30.
Arriving on February 1st, the day of a game, he played in 13 of the remaining 16 matches of the Serie A season. Of those appearances, 11 were starts.
Motta stayed for the following campaign, but only started 13 games from 16 league appearances across the entire season. By the end of it, he left for Juventus.
Víctor Ibarbo (2015)
Remember him? As part of a winter transfer window that was, on reflection, rather bizarre, Roma brought in Víctor Ibarbo from Cagliari on February 1st, 2015.
The attacker, who mainly favoured a wide position, did not live up to expectations. He was only on loan, but an injury meant his spell got off to a bad start.
The Colombian struggled upon his return, although a lack of available alternatives meant Rudi Garcia had to rely on him. One day, it paid off, as Ibarbo got the assist for a decisive goal in a 2-1 win over Lazio.
Roma somewhat surprisingly extended his loan for another season in the summer. But after just two appearances, that agreement was cancelled and he switched to Watford instead.
Nicolás Spolli (2015)
Ibarbo wasn’t even the most questionable signing of that month. Nicolás Spolli may well be one of the most forgettable players to ever represent Roma.
The defender joined on loan from Catania one day after Ibarbo, but he did not play until the final day of the season, by which time Roma’s position was already secure.
Needless to say, Roma did not use their €1.5m option to buy. The Argentine joined Carpi instead and even struggled to get a game there.
Diego Perotti (2016)
The best player to join Roma in a February so far was Diego Perotti.
The Argentine winger joined from Genoa on loan on February 1st. He made his debut the following day, as a starter against Sassuolo.
Roma had changed their coach in January, with Luciano Spalletti replacing Garcia. The switch led to a resurgent second half of the season, with Perotti being a major factor in the improvements.
It took him less than a week to score his first goal for the club, and he began to take extra responsibility as a false nine when Edin Džeko or Francesco Totti were not playing.
Roma took up their option to buy him in the summer and, returning to a role on the wide left, Perotti continued to contribute.
He became particularly useful from the penalty spot, but also had an eye for goal from open play. Perotti left the club in 2020, having scored 32 goals in 138 games.
Bryan Reynolds (2021)
Roma had been pursuing Bryan Reynolds since late 2020, presumably thanks to him sharing a home state (Texas) with the club’s owners, the Friedkin family.
However, when Juventus and Benevento entered the race to sign him, the transfer was put on hold for a while.
Ultimately, the teenage American full-back chose Roma. Sadly, though, he struggled to show the club what he was capable of, making just eight appearances.
Tommaso Baldanzi (2024)
Tiago Pinto worked down to the wire during his last transfer window as Roma’s sporting director.
After completing loan deals for Dean Huijsen (Juventus) and Angeliño (RB Leipzig) in January 2024, he waited until deadline day to secure the signing of Tommaso Baldanzi on a permanent transfer.
The move became possible when Roma managed to offload Andrea Belotti and Marash Kumbulla on loan to Fiorentina and Sassuolo respectively.
Baldanzi arrived at the age of 20 but with more than 40 Serie A appearances under his belt already for Empoli, generating enthusiasm about his long-term development.
However, he struggled to force his way into Roma’s starting lineup before departing on loan to Genoa two years later. Until that point, Baldanzi only scored three goals from 69 games for Roma.
Victor Nelsson (2025)
Roma had one of their busiest deadline days in recent memory in the winter 2025 transfer window, which ran until 3rd February.
The first of three new additions that evening was Victor Nelsson, who joined on an initial loan deal from Galatasaray.
The Danish centre-back was chosen after Roma had previously explored other targets to replace Mario Hermoso as he left on loan for Bayer Leverkusen.
Nelsson only played five times for Roma, so they didn’t use their option to buy him, though he did stay in Italy by making Hellas Verona his next club.
Lucas Gourna-Douath (2025)
The big surprise of the February 2025 deadline day was Roma’s acquisition of Lucas Gourna-Douath from Red Bull Salzburg on loan with a view to buy.
Gourna-Douath wasn’t even a known target that morning, but Roma managed to put the Frenchman through his medical where he was in Austria in order to get a last-ditch deal over the line.
The 21-year-old was identified as a midfield option with long-term potential, which Roma could later benefit from if they were to purchase him.
They decided not to, though, after not seeing enough from his six appearances to convince them he was worth the €18m option to buy.
READ MORE: Roma’s most expensive option to buy clauses for loan signings
Anass Salah-Eddine (2025)
As Roma sent Samuel Dahl to Benfica on 3rd February, they beat the deadline just in time to bring in Anass Salah-Eddine as his replacement.
The left-back arrived from Dutch side FC Twente after previously learning his trade within the Ajax academy.
But he too struggled to dislodge Angeliño, only making three appearances before heading back to the Netherlands for a loan spell with PSV.
Bryan Zaragoza (2026)
The pursuit of a right-footed left winger was something Roma spent most of the summer of 2025 working on. Thus, it was frustrating for it to take until deadline day of the winter 2026 window to finalise something.
But in the end, they struck an agreement to interrupt Bryan Zaragoza’s loan spell at Celta from Bayern Munich and take him for themselves.
Aged 24 at the time of his first entry into Italian football, Zaragoza joined on a loan deal with an option to buy, that could become an obligation on certain conditions. His gametime and Roma’s qualification for European football would be the factors to decide his fate beyond the end of the 2025-26 season.
This article was originally published on 4th February, 2021, and has been updated since.
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