Fabrizio Romano has fashioned himself as the biggest inside source for transfer news on social media, coming a long way since starting out with Sky Sport Italia in 2012.
While the Naples-born reporter has gained mass popularity and is usually accurate with his news, he does have his detractors too, who have accused him of ‘tapping in’ news revealed by other sources.
But when Romano uses his ‘here we go’ catchphrase on X – first aired for Aaron Ramsey’s move to Juventus from Arsenal in January 2019 – it usually gets pulses racing that a deal is about to be done.
Except there have been some instances when Romano has declared ‘here we go’, only for the move in question not to go through.
So far, that’s happened six times relating to Roma news. In chronological order, here we go…
Cengiz Ünder
After the least effective season of his three-year spell with Roma, who were in the process of cutting down their winger options, Cengiz Ünder was sent packing for a Premier League move.
And while Ünder did leave Roma on loan for Leicester City in September 2020, it was with an option to buy, rather than the obligation to buy that Romano exclaimed.
Indeed, Leicester didn’t keep the Turkish winger, who moved on to Marseille in 2021 in a move that did become permanent.
Edin Džeko and Arkadiusz Milik
After surpassing the 100-goal barrier for Roma, there was major speculation about Edin Džeko’s future in the prolonged summer 2020 transfer window.
It seemed as if the captain was on the verge of leaving for Serie A rivals Juventus and would be replaced by Napoli’s Arkadiusz Milik.
Džeko remained an unused substitute in Roma’s opening match of the Serie A season, despite them not having another natural striker at the time.
Milik had arrived at Ciampino airport in Rome the day before, undergoing a preliminary check on a knee injury before being scheduled to have his full medical in Switzerland.
Roma released a statement refusing to comment on the health of a player owned by another club, but the move still fell through and Milik, who was in the final year of his contract, was frozen out by Napoli.
Instead, Juventus re-signed Álvaro Morata and Džeko completed his final season with Roma, sharing gametime with Real Madrid loanee Borja Mayoral. Ironically, after a spell with Marseille, Milik ended up joining Juventus himself in 2022.
Stephan El Shaarawy
Stephan El Shaarawy never seemed wholly convinced about his move to the Chinese Super League with Shanghai Shenhua in 2019, despite the immense wealth on offer.
The winger pined for a return to Roma and it was initially expected to go through as a loan deal in October 2020.
However, despite Romano’s ‘here we go’, El Shaarawy had to wait until January 2021 to seal his return to Roma, which was on a free transfer, rather than a loan.
The reason was a delay in the paperwork finalising Diego Perotti’s departure to Fenerbahçe on deadline day, which left the El Shaarawy affair on stand-by.
“A lot has been written but there was no problem with the wages,” El Shaarawy clarified a few days later. “If the deal didn’t go through it was because of other reasons, unfortunately.”
El Shaarawy eventually got his wish in January 2021 and his second spell with the club has helped him surpass 300 total appearances.
Kevin Danso
The end of the summer 2024 transfer window was hectic for Roma. Chris Smalling was cleared to leave for the Saudi Pro League amid a hope that new reinforcements could be found.
Roma’s first thought was to buy Kevin Danso from Lens, which they agreed via a loan with an obligation for a permanent transfer.
But the situation was plunged into chaos when potential heart issues were detected in his medical and Danso was blocked from playing in Italy.
Lens disputed the claims, but Danso did later have to undergo some minor heart surgery. Eventually, he joined Tottenham Hotspur instead, where he won the Europa League in 2025.
Tiago Djaló
Roma responded to the Danso blockage by turning their attention to a different defender, Tiago Djaló.
Rarely used by Juventus, Roma agreed to take the Portuguese player on loan. But after they put him through his medical, there was a curious wait.
Djaló was effectively stranded as Roma desperately explored their options to see if there was a defender with a better physical record that they could sign.
Ultimately, Roma took a chance and dropped the Djaló deal in favour of signing free agents Mario Hermoso and Mats Hummels in September.
Ironically, Djaló played against Roma later that season in the Europa League after making a different loan move to Porto.
Jayden Oosterwolde
Roma originally showed interest in Jayden Oosterwolde in January 2026, spying a deal to bring him back to Italian football after a previous spell in Serie B with Parma.
When the move was revived in August, Oosterwolde was nursing an injury, so Roma put him through extra tests.
In the process, there were fresh negotiations with Fenerbahçe over the structure of the deal, specifically regarding the conditions that would trigger a permanent transfer.
Later on the same day the clubs were drawn against each other in the Champions League, it emerged that they had been unable to find a middle-ground over the new deal and so Oosterwolde was sent back to Turkey.
This article was originally published on 3rd August, 2025, and has been updated since.
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