The importance of the sporting director role has grown significantly in football over recent years, with those making transfer decisions under just as much scrutiny – if not more – as the head coaches picking the lineups.
Roma have struggled for stability with sporting directors (or those fulfilling similar duties under different titles) in recent years, with early intrigue or optimism often making way for disappointment.
But as each new era has dawned, what has been the first order of business for each incumbent of the sporting director position?
Here, Giallorossi Yorkshire recaps the sporting directors Roma have had in the 21st Century and who each of their first signings was.
Ricky Massara – Neil El Aynaoui
Massara’s CV mostly consists of work with Italian clubs, including separate spells with Roma. But when he was chosen to return to the club, his most recent venture had been abroad in France with Rennes.
Subsequently, Massara made a player from Ligue 1 his first signing, spending €22m plus a potential €3m in bonuses to add Lens’ El Aynaoui to Roma’s midfield.
If all the add-ons were to be activated, that would make El Aynaoui the third most expensive midfielder Roma have ever signed.
Florent Ghisolfi – Enzo Le Fée
Ghisolfi was also appointed after working in France and invested in a Ligue 1 midfielder as his first senior signing (after Buba Sangaré, who was 16 at the time of his purchase and didn’t make a first-team debut before Roma parted company with Ghisolfi).
Le Fée arrived from Rennes for €23m, but only lasted half a season at Roma, part of which was disrupted by injuries, before moving on to Sunderland. Ghisolfi’s forecast that his compatriot’s arrival would “be a very, very good thing for Roma” hadn’t come true.
Sunderland’s subsequent promotion to the Premier League forced them to keep Le Fée on a permanent basis (ahead of Ghisolfi himself taking a role with the same club), meaning his Roma career ended after just six Serie A appearances.
Tiago Pinto – Stephan El Shaarawy
Most sporting directors begin work at the start of a new season, but Pinto took on his role (labelled as General Manager of Football) on New Year’s Day in 2021.
The former Benfica director was active in the winter transfer window, with the first operation being to bring back El Shaarawy to Roma 18 months after he left for Shanghai Shenhua.
“Everyone knows the quality El Shaarawy has, but few are aware of the full extent of his desire to come back and wear the Roma shirt once more – and it is that desire and belief in our project that made all the difference,” Pinto explained.
The wide player’s second spell with the club has now helped take his overall appearance tally for the Giallorossi above 300.
Gianluca Petrachi – Leonardo Spinazzola
Before Massara commencing work alongside Gian Piero Gasperini, the last time Roma restructured to have a new sporting director and head coach in the same pre-season was when Petrachi and Paulo Fonseca started their respective jobs in 2019.
Ex-Torino director Petrachi had a busy start to his tenure as Roma navigated Financial Fair Play deadlines. While technically he didn’t start work until the start of July, he was announced by Roma a few days before their part-exchange deal with Juventus, in which Luca Pellegrini was sold while Roma bought the more expensive counterpart in the shape of Spinazzola.
“I have huge expectations for him because he can lend us a big hand,” Petrachi said of Spinazzola at a press conference a few days later. The full-back struggled at first and almost left after half a season, but a failed medical with Inter led to him getting a second chance. His stay outlasted Petrachi’s significantly, since the director was suspended by the club after just under a year in the role.
Monchi – Héctor Moreno
Monchi’s spell with Roma was a catalogue of mistakes, starting right from his first investment.
Moreno was a long-term target for the former Sevilla director, who finally got his man from PSV shortly after starting work with Roma, where he was initially well-received. Monchi exclaimed: “This is a central defender with a lot of international experience, and he fits the profile we were looking for perfectly.”
But just half a season later, Moreno was being sold to Real Sociedad after just five Serie A appearances, with the centre-back later admitting he had realised in Rome that he “didn’t know how to defend.”
Ricky Massara – Clément Grenier
As mentioned earlier, Massara has worked for Roma before, but his only previous signing as sporting director was the addition of Grenier on loan from Lyon in January 2017.
“I’m sure Grenier’s ability and versatility can enhance the squad in a crucial area of the pitch ahead of the end of the campaign,” said Massara at the time, before the French playmaker failed to score from six appearances.
Roma declined their option to buy Grenier at the end of his loan spell.
Walter Sabatini – José Ángel
One of Roma’s longer-serving and more popular sporting directors, Sabatini is remembered for bringing the likes of Marquinhos, Mohamed Salah and Edin Džeko to the club, even though he had a few blots on his record as well.
Entrusted with building Roma’s new era after being appointed by the club’s new American owners in 2011, Sabatini waited until mid-July to make the first addition the squad being inherited by Luis Enrique (other than activating the option to buy Marco Borriello, who was playing for the club on loan from AC Milan in the 2010-11 season).
Like the new head coach, the first signing was a Spaniard: José Ángel. Aged 21 at the time of joining, the left-back only played in one season for Roma before a two-year loan to Real Sociedad and eventual sale to Porto.
Daniele Pradè – Rodrigo Taddei
The most recent Rome-born sporting director of Roma, Pradè took the reins from Franco Baldini in 2005 at a time when the Giallorossi needed to set roots for their future.
A turbulent season, overseen by four different coaches, had just passed. Luciano Spalletti was chosen as the new leader of the squad after his impressive work with Udinese, while Pradè was promoted from within to the sporting director role.
His first signing was a freebie, as Roma picked up Taddei after his release from Siena. It was one of the shrewdest moves they have ever made, since the versatile Brazilian made almost 300 appearances across nine seasons with the club and contributed to three trophy wins.
Leave a Reply