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Extended Clip - Romelu Lukaku: Can Roma Challenge For Serie A Title With Chelsea Striker? (Ep. 354)
1.6k Plays2 years ago
With Romelu Lukaku close to making a loan move to Roma from Chelsea, Nima Tavallaey Roodsari and Carlo Garganese discuss and analyze what this move means for José Mourinho & co in their quest to finish in the top 4 in the Serie A and a spot in next season's Champions League.
This is an extended clip from this weeks free Monday episode of The Italian Football Podcast which is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google podcasts.
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Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast
00:00:02
Speaker
Welcome to the Italian football podcast.
Lukaku's Transfer Details
00:00:06
Speaker
And that brings us onto Romelu Lukaku.
00:00:09
Speaker
Roma are close to signing Lukaku on it. It seems like it's going to be a loan deal with no obligation and a loan fee probably around about five million. Lukaku will lower his salary to make the move. He's confirmed himself. The transfer will go through. It doesn't really mean much anymore what Lukaku says, but he said it. So unless he changes his mind after watching this game against Verona, he's going to be a Roma player.
Impact of Lukaku on Roma's Serie A Chances
00:00:35
Speaker
What does this mean to Roma? If you ignore the fact that, you know, there's only two games in, so the season's not over. Does this now give Roma a chance of top four, or does it even give them a chance of Scudetto? What does this mean for Roma? Scudetto, for sure not, because they're not good enough in other areas of the pitch, as we've described already so far in the midfield, defensively, goalkeeper.
00:00:59
Speaker
but it does boost their chances to finish in the top four for sure.
Potential of Lukaku and DiBala Partnership
00:01:05
Speaker
And when Paolo Di Bala is fit, Lucaco will see Lucaco Di Bala Pellegrini, and Intefans are going to be pulling their hairs, or in my case whatever little they've got left, because the Intefans could have had that at Inter.
00:01:20
Speaker
And it's frustrating because I think Dibala and Lukaku will be unbelievable together. And Lukaku, even though at this point in his career, he has what it takes to score 15-20 goals in the Serie A, and he's going to be that reference point that Mourinho wants up front.
00:01:40
Speaker
They've worked together, they know each other, and Lukaku is pissed off. He wants to prove himself, and he's that kind of a character who likes to prove himself and say basically against adversity and against all odds kind of guy. So this is a very good signing for Roma.
00:01:59
Speaker
This puts them in good contention for the top four. And I think with Sardar Azmoun as a backup and Bellotti there, now they actually have options up front, which they didn't have just a week ago. So I understand why Roma want him, and I think it's a good signing by Roma.
Lukaku's Role and Roma's European Ambitions
00:02:20
Speaker
But Romelu Lukaku has just, no, I don't understand this guy. Just before we get to Lukaku, let me just add on what he'll bring to Roma. I think that Dibala and Lukaku potentially is a really, really exciting combination. If they can stay fit, that's the big if. Dibala went off with another muscle injury, it seems. I don't know how serious his, if it was a precaution. He came off because of precaution. But again, he's injured.
00:02:46
Speaker
Mourinho said before the game, the only reason we were able to sign Di Bala and by extension someone like Lukaku is because other clubs don't want them anymore. Di Bala because of the injuries. We only be able to sign Di Bala because no one else wanted to go for him because he's injured. Lukaku, again, big clubs are not going for him anymore. So this is kind of where they are. If they can stay fit together, I'm sure they will score a lot of goals.
00:03:14
Speaker
you know, between them, at least 30 goals, maybe even 40 goals between them, if they can stay fit. The problem is they won't stay fit for a whole season, certainly not Diwala. So, you know, I think that with a bit of luck, this is great for Roma. I saw somebody comparing them to
00:03:33
Speaker
the Omar Sivori John Charles, Juventus Park. Yeah, back in the US. The little guy, the little genius Sivori with the big monster, John Charles. I think it's good and with Pellegrini,
00:03:50
Speaker
who scored in this game. I think there's a lot of attacking offensive quality there. There's a lot of quality there. Mourinho has to find a way of tying it all together, which wasn't able to do with even with Penegrini and DiBala last season. So now he's got more to try and tie.
00:04:11
Speaker
I think Lukaku could unlock both Dibala and Pellegrini because of the fact that he can hold up the ball and create that kind of extra second needed for players to adapt. And no, I really think this is a good sign for Roma and this is good.
Lukaku's Career Trajectory
00:04:30
Speaker
But for Lukaku,
00:04:33
Speaker
you know, he's not going to be challenging for the champion. He's not going to play in the Champions League. He's not challenging for the Scudetto. His career at that top is finished and Inter was his only chance and he screwed that up. For the first time since leaving Everton, you could say in terms of expectation, I mean, we can all sit here and say Man United never really had a chance of winning the Premier League. But in terms of expectation,
00:05:00
Speaker
This is the first time since leaving Everton in 2017 that he isn't going to be challenging for a big title.
Roma's European Competition Prospects
00:05:11
Speaker
I still think that Roma could win the Rokbali. If you call that a big title, I wouldn't call it a big title, a league title or a Champions League title. Fair enough. OK, fair enough. Fair enough. But I think I think they can win something in Europe. I think they showed last season they have European pedigree and European routine. And I think that they I think it does sum up how his career has declined, isn't it? That he's now here he is. He's now at a club that are not challenging for.
00:05:35
Speaker
for one of the major, major, major titles. So yeah, that shows us where we are, but you know, an angry Lukaku, we'll see, we'll see what you can do.