Roma's Attention Turns to Rosario Forward Alejo Véliz

It's come to this. After months of chasing Alvaro Morata and Gianluca Scamacca, only to be restrained by their grim financial reality, Roma's quest for a new center forward has brought them to South America. While mining the windward side of the Atlantic was once the club's bread and butter, this time around, it smacks of desperation.

In the days of Walter Sabatini, the club would routinely pluck talents from the Argentinian and Brazilian leagues to round out the edges of the squad, but with Tiago Pinto unable to secure his top targets, the club may have no choice but to roll the dice on a teenaged prodigy.

Yesterday, we discussed the growing links between Roma and Brazilian forward Marcos Leonardo, a 20-year-old striker from Santos who profiles as a hard-working, shifty player with a nose for goal.

Today's rumor, courtesy of La Repubblica, brings us to Argentina, specifically Rosario, arguably the hotbed of Argentinian football. According to their reports, Roma, in addition to tracking Marcos Leonardo, has turned their attention to Alejo Véliz.

A 19-year-old striker, Véliz found his footing with Rosario last season as an 18-year-old, scoring six goals during the 2022 season, but he kicked things up a notch in 2023, bagging 11 goals in little more than 1,700 minutes.

Valued at €15 million by Rosario, Véliz was initially linked with AC Milan, but La Repubblica reports that Roma has already engaged Rosario in transfer discussions. However, in a sick twist, Rosario, much like Roma, isn't the picture of financial health, so the Giallorossi may be able to take advantage of their Argentinian counterparts.

Take a look—do you think this kid can hack it in Serie A?