Roma's Left-Sided Reinforcement Options: Zaha, Diatta, and Guerreiro

Atalanta loom on the fixture list, but at Trigoria the whiteboard is still split in two: tactics on one side, transfers on the other.

Roma closed the summer window without delivering the left-sided reinforcement Gian Piero Gasperini had asked for. That gap hasn’t gone away. It has simply moved into a different market. The club are now combing through the pool of free agents, determined not to panic, but equally aware that one more piece on the flank could tilt the balance of their season.

The line from inside the club is firm: they will move only if the right opportunity appears, a player who fits the coach’s demands rather than just fills a line on the squad list. No late-window scramble, no vanity signing. Someone who can play, and play Gasperini’s way.

According to Gazzetta dello Sport, one name sits squarely in that category: Wilfried Zaha. The Ivorian came close to Roma in 2023, then went elsewhere. Now he is back on the market, free after his last spell, and that changes the equation. A player with his experience and one‑v‑one ability, available without a transfer fee, is exactly the sort of situation that forces even a cautious club to look twice.

He is not alone on the shortlist. Krépin Diatta is also under consideration, another free agent after the end of his time at Monaco. The Senegalese wide man offers pace and versatility, the kind of profile that can stretch a game and give Gasperini different shapes down the flank.

Then there is Raphael Guerreiro. At 32, and fresh from a season at Bayern Munich, the Portuguese left-footer would bring something different again: refined technique, tactical intelligence, and the ability to operate all along the left side. On paper, he is the most natural fit for that left lane, a player who has lived the demands of elite football for years.

Conclusion

Three names, one vacancy. With Atalanta approaching and the season already gathering speed, Roma must decide whether to trust what they have or seize one last chance in a market that rarely offers this much pedigree for nothing.