Serie A Daily Report - 2026-06-24

AS Roma's 2025-26 season ended with a major step forward under Gian Piero Gasperini, who took over in 2025 on a three-year deal after nine years at Atalanta. Roma finished third in Serie A with 73 points, enough to secure Champions League qualification and underline how quickly Gasperini has reshaped the club. The result gives Roma one of their strongest league finishes in years and confirms that the project is already producing tangible gains in a league where margins are usually tight and patience is short.

The significance goes beyond the table. Gasperini has long been associated with aggressive pressing, organisation and player development, and Roma's improvement suggests those traits are translating immediately in the capital. For a club that has often lurched between ambition and instability, third place offers both prestige and practical benefits, from European revenue to stronger pull in the transfer market. The challenge now is whether Roma can back up that progress in the Champions League qualification phase and keep pace with the division's top contenders next season.

Alessio Romagnoli is close to leaving Lazio for Al Sadd after the clubs agreed a €3 million transfer fee, according to the report. The 31-year-old centre-back, a former AC Milan captain and long-time Lazio defensive leader, has a verbal agreement in place, with documents ready and only medical and contractual formalities left to complete. The move would end another chapter in Serie A for a defender who has been central to Lazio's back line in recent seasons.

For Lazio, the fee is modest but the departure matters because Romagnoli has been one of the squad's most experienced Italian internationals and a key organiser at the back. His exit would force the club to rethink its defensive structure and leadership group, especially if the deal is finalised quickly. For Al Sadd, the signing fits the wider trend of Gulf clubs targeting seasoned European defenders, while Lazio lose a player whose positional sense and aerial strength have been core parts of their identity.

Lazio Women have been ordered by the Court of Arbitration for Sport to pay compensation and moral damages to Swedish midfielder Maja Gothberg after terminating her contract when she became pregnant. The ruling found the club unlawfully ended her employment, turning a personal dispute into a precedent-setting case for women's football. Gothberg had helped Lazio Women win promotion to Serie A in the 2023-24 season, making 29 appearances before the summer 2024 negotiations collapsed once she informed the club of her pregnancy.

The decision is significant because it strengthens the practical force of FIFA's maternity regulations and sends a clear message to clubs across the game. FIFPRO said the case could shape how pregnancy protections are applied in future, and Gothberg herself described the ruling as about fair treatment as much as football. For Lazio, the judgment is a reputational blow that extends beyond the women's team, while for players it offers a rare legal victory in an area where contractual rights have often been fragile.

Ronaldinho has come out of retirement at 46 to sign for Ravenna FC, giving the Serie C club one of the most eye-catching names in modern football. The Ballon d'Or winner last played club football for Fluminense in 2015, and his return was unveiled with club owner Ignazio Cipriani as Ravenna presented him in the new jersey. Reports say Ronaldinho is not just a marketing figure: he is expected to be a full-fledged player and could feature in at least one league match, an extraordinary twist for a player who defined an era at Barcelona and beyond.

For Ravenna, a club with a stadium of just over 12,000 seats and modest third-tier ambitions, the signing is transformational in profile if not yet in sporting terms. Ronaldinho's presence immediately drags the club into international headlines and gives the owner a platform to push the 'R10' technical brand idea alongside footballing nostalgia. It also speaks to the enduring commercial power of iconic ex-players in Italy, where even a lower-league project can become a global story if the right name walks through the door.

Dan Ndoye is being linked with Inter Milan, but the winger's camp says he has 'no intention of leaving' Nottingham Forest or the Premier League right now. The 25-year-old Swiss international endured an injury-hit first season in England after Forest paid big money to sign him from Bologna, and he managed just 1,176 Premier League minutes across 24 appearances, contributing only two goal involvements. Even so, his reputation remains strong in Italy, where Napoli also checked on him during the winter window.

The report matters because Ndoye remains one of the more intriguing cross-border names with Serie A relevance, especially given his Bologna past and Inter's interest in converting him into an attacking wing-back. For Forest, the message is that a difficult debut season has not erased the player's value, while for Serie A clubs it is another reminder that Premier League opportunities can outbid sentimental returns. If Ndoye does eventually move, the current preference is to stay in England rather than head back to Italy.

Kerim Alajbegovic produced one of the standout moments of the World Cup by scoring Bosnia and Herzegovina's first goal against Qatar with a brilliant long-range strike after dribbling past two defenders. The teenager, who will not turn 19 until September, has already built a strong reputation at RB Salzburg, where he scored 13 goals and added four assists in 44 competitive games this season. Bayer Leverkusen activated a buy-back option for €8 million, but the player is still widely viewed as a likely mover rather than a long-term Leverkusen solution.

The goal matters for Serie A because both Roma and Atalanta have been linked with him, and the performance was an ideal showcase for clubs monitoring elite young attackers at the tournament. Roma are said to be his preferred destination, especially after reaching the Champions League, but Atalanta may have greater financial flexibility. In a market that increasingly rewards early identification of talent, one World Cup flashpoint can quickly become a recruitment argument, and Alajbegovic has just strengthened his case dramatically.

Chelsea are stepping up their defensive rebuild under new manager Xabi Alonso and have made Crystal Palace centre-back Maxence Lacroix a key target. The Blues have already sold Marc Cucurella to Real Madrid for £51.8 million and are set to complete the signing of Atalanta defender Marco Palestra for more than £43 million, but they still want at least one more central defender. Lacroix, a France international with three years left on his contract, is now the next major name on their list.

The Serie A angle is significant because Chelsea are also tracking Como's 21-year-old centre-back Jacobo Ramon, while Como are interested in Trevoh Chalobah. That creates a potential chain reaction involving an Italian club that has become increasingly active in the market and an English side trying to reshape its back line. For Palace, losing Lacroix would be painful because he has been central to their FA Cup and Europa Conference League triumphs, but Chelsea's spending power could make the pursuit difficult to resist.