Roma completed the signing of Tommaso Baldanzi on deadline day this winter, representing Tiago Pinto’s final piece of recruitment for the club.
With the way the dates fell, the transfer window ran until February 1st this year – a rare occurrence for something usually referred to as the January transfer window.
Naturally, there have been very few players Roma have signed in previous Februaries. Hence, Baldanzi has joined a select group – in which his five predecessors have endured mixed fortunes.
Here are all the players Roma have ever signed in the month of February.
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.
Victor Ibarbo (2015)
Remember him? As part of a winter transfer window that was, on reflection, rather bizarre, Roma brought in Victor 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.
Nicolas Spolli (2015)
Ibarbo wasn’t even the most questionable signing of that month. Nicolas 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, which made Spolli the latest ever signing in a winter window for Roma.
That was about the only ‘achievement’ Spolli recorded in Rome. 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 Rudi 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 Dzeko 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 Angelino (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.
This article was originally published on 4th February, 2021, and has been updated since.
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