Swap deals are often the subject of transfer gossip columns, but happen far less frequently than the speculation suggests.
However, in recent years, Roma have organised some notable part-exchange deals with other clubs in Serie A, allowing two – or even three – players to swap places, with fees attached as well.
Here are some swap deals that actually did happen for Roma in recent years.
Abraham-Saelemaekers (2024)
After a thrilling first season, disappointing second and injury-tinged third, Tammy Abraham was no longer seen as Roma’s main striker candidate ahead of the 2024-25 season, so the club spent the summer working on selling him (as they would have planned the year before had it not been for his ACL injury).
AC Milan kept Abraham on their radar all summer, but their reluctance to pay the full price led them to try and sweeten the deal with a counterpart. Ultimately, the one that made sense for Roma to take was Alexis Saelemaekers, who appealed thanks to his versatility.
Initially, the clubs planned for Roma to earn €10m as part of the operation, but since it still wasn’t finalised by the start of transfer deadline day, they hastily changed the formula of both deals to loans.
Abraham made an assist on his Milan debut, coincidentally against Lazio, while Saelemaekers went straight into Roma’s starting lineup against Juventus.
Manolas-Diawara (2019)
Tasked with a rebuilding job in the first post-Monchi transfer window, Roma’s new sporting director Gianluca Petrachi oversaw two part-exchange deals in the summer of 2019, each including a sale that helped for Financial Fair Play purposes.
A deal with Napoli saw Kostas Manolas sold for €36m on 30th June, the last day of the football financial year, and Amadou Diawara arrive a day later so that the €21m investment would count on the following year’s books. In other words, the deal was weighted for Roma to receive €15m plus Diawara in return for Manolas.
Manolas, best remembered for his goal against Barcelona in 2018, left Roma after five seasons, before spending two-and-a-half with Napoli.
Diawara enjoyed an increase in gametime at Roma compared to Napoli, but the midfielder struggled for consistency and was sold in 2022.
Spinazzola-Pellegrini (2019)
At a similar time, Roma raised funds for their FFP targets in an exchange that saw them swap academy graduates with Juventus.
Luca Pellegrini left Roma for €22m, having only played six times for the club, while Leonardo Spinazzola came to the capital valued at €29.5m. If those numbers seemed a bit off, in 2023, the operation faced investigation amid the capital gains case accusing clubs of inflating transfer fees.
On the pitch, Spinazzola became Roma’s starting left-back, although ironically he almost could have left in another swap deal just six months after joining the club, when his move to Inter – which would have seen former academy product Matteo Politano return to Roma – collapsed because of issues in his medical.
Spinazzola went on to complete five years of service to Roma, whereas Pellegrini has endured four loan spells away from Juventus, including his current spell back in the capital with Lazio.
Skorupski-Mirante (2018)
Being a goalkeeper can be tough when you’re not starting regularly, and this swap deal saw a backup keeper move to become a starter and a starting keeper move to become a backup.
Dissatisfied with his lack of gametime at Roma despite getting to watch Alisson Becker’s magnificence throughout the 2017-18 season, Lukasz Skorupski sought a permanent exit from the club and joined Bologna for €9m in June 2018.
In return, Roma got Antonio Mirante for €4m to become the backup for fellow new keeper, Robin Olsen. But Olsen’s poor form led to Mirante taking over as the starter by the end of the season, and something similar happened when he was deputising for Pau Lopez the following season.
Mirante left Roma after three seasons, accepting a lesser role still at AC Milan, whereas Skorupski is still at Bologna to this day and has played more than 200 times for the club.
Nainggolan-Santon/Zaniolo (2018)
Not just two, but three players were involved in the operation that took Radja Nainggolan away from Roma in a deal that affected most fans’ emotions significantly.
What made the deal painful for those of a Roma persuasion was not just the loss of a top player to a rival, but the acquisition of a player perceived to be declining – Davide Santon – and a relative unknown, Nicolo Zaniolo, providing little consolation on the surface.
€9.5m-rated Santon struggled with injuries during his time at Roma, but €4.5m gem Zaniolo was a revelation, enjoying a breakout season under Eusebio Di Francesco’s guidance.
Nainggolan, in contrast, struggled to match his peak Roma form – which, in all honesty, he had even struggled to live up to in his final campaign in the capital – during his Inter spell, with 2018-19 being the only season he completed in full there.
It was not the return Inter wanted from someone they paid €24m for on top of the two players they traded to Roma in a €38m package.
Nainggolan’s 203-game spell with Roma, which included 33 goals, will be recalled as the prime of his career – and despite how it ended, Zaniolo’s 128-game, 24-goal spell with the Lupi looks like it could be considered the same too.
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