Rome Transfer Market: What a blow for the Giallorossi—a crazy offer from Saudi Arabia scuppers the Summerville deal

It seemed like a done deal, but instead Roma has to start all over again. After Mason Greenwood and Zeki Çelik, the Giallorossi are facing yet another transfer blow—this time an even more painful one. On Tuesday morning, it seemed like the deal for Crysencio Summerville’s arrival from Aston Villa was all but done.

After a long courtship, the deal for the Dutch winger from West Ham was about to go through, but surprisingly, Al Hilal swooped in at the last minute: the Saudi club submitted an 80 million euro offer for the player, completely upending the deal. The Saudis have also reached an agreement with Summerville, who accepted a 14 million euro salary—far higher than what had been agreed upon with Roma (4.2 million). Roma will not submit a counteroffer, and the deal can be considered completely off the table.

In addition to Summerville, the Garnacho option has also fallen through: the Brazilian Chelsea player is reportedly on the verge of joining Aston Villa. Negotiations are already underway, and the deal is expected to close shortly: Roma must therefore start from scratch and resume their search for the wingers that Gian Piero Gasperini has been calling for for some time.

Gasperini had already commented bitterly on the Çelik situation, publicly acknowledging the club’s limitations in managing the transfer window timeline: “It’s probably true—we’re slow to close deals. Sometimes you’re a gasoline engine, sometimes a diesel engine. We need to do better because when it comes to the transfer window, we need to be faster.”