At the start of the season, things could not have been going much better for Antonio Mirante.
After becoming the first Roma player to contract Covid-19 in pre-season, he may not have been expecting to be involved straight away when the campaign commenced.
Instead, having overcome the virus in time, he began the season not just in the matchday squad, but as Roma’s starting goalkeeper.
With last year’s number one Pau Lopez struggling for consistency, Mirante entered his third season with Roma as first choice. The veteran started the first six Serie A games of 2020-21, keeping clean sheets in half of them.
At 37 years of age, Mirante was still agile and capable of pulling off a number of great saves. However, a couple of months later, things took a turn for the worse.
Mirante’s form unexpectedly began to deteriorate. He let in four goals against Napoli at the end of November and then the same amount against Atalanta in the final month of the calendar year.
Due in part to injuries and also because of Lopez regaining some form, Mirante has not played since Christmas.
It has put his future into doubt, with his contract expiring at the end of the season.
Embed from Getty ImagesA few months ago, a short-term extension for the former Parma and Bologna man seemed a certainty. However, his credentials have come into question recently, and now such a deal is in doubt.
The latest reports from Gazzetta Dello Sport suggest that AC Milan want to lure him away from Roma, who have yet to decide if they will offer Mirante new terms.
The fact that a club of similar stature sees a role for Mirante should tell Roma what they ought to know. It would still be the right decision to keep him on board for next year.
Of course, Mirante’s form in his last few appearances was not great. But it was the first real blip he has had in his three years at Roma.
In his first season, he usurped Robin Olsen by the end of the campaign, ending it as number one.
Then, last season, he similarly kept Lopez on his toes, before overtaking him briefly in the formative weeks of the present campaign.
It was only in those last few weeks of 2020 when Mirante began to look somewhat shaky. A couple of bad games should not overshadow two-and-a-half years of solidity.
The mistakes Mirante began making were not ideal, but they were not characteristic of him, either. He can get back to his best when called upon.
Besides, he isn’t even supposed to be the first choice. Returning to judge him as a backup option, Roma could not find many better than him.
Even when he turns 38, Mirante still has it in him to be a useful member of the goalkeeping department, whether that’s as second- or third-choice.
Embed from Getty ImagesOf course, there remains a possibility that Lopez himself could be replaced by a more reliable number one. In that case, it would help whoever arrives to have someone behind them who already knows what it takes to succeed at this club.
For example, when Olsen arrived in 2018, he spearheaded an all-new goalkeeping department alongside Mirante and Daniel Fuzato. None of them had played for the club before.
Perhaps the lack of someone who had already been at the club was a factor in why Olsen struggled to settle in his sole season with Roma. When a new keeper comes in, there needs to be a natural succession.
For example, it helped Wojciech Szczesny to have Morgan De Sanctis behind him at first in 2015.
Roma would not want to find themselves in a similar situation to the one they had with Olsen again. Some degree of stability is needed.
Mirante can provide that now. There is no need to tie him down to another three-year contract, but at his age, he should be happy to assess things year by year.
Roma should keep their faith in him, then, and offer him another 12 months. Ultimately, this should be one of the least difficult goalkeeping decisions they will have to make this summer.
Mirante is still important and is certainly someone worth keeping around.
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