Roma director Tiago Pinto reiterates that Nicolò Zaniolo is not part of the project, while a new contract with Chris Smalling depends entirely on the defender. ‘The ball is in his court.’
They host Empoli in Serie A this evening and it kicks off at the Stadio Olimpico at 17.00 GMT.
This has been a very rough week for the Giallorossi, who lost to Napoli, saw Nicolò Zaniolo try to force a transfer leading to him being frozen out and then they crashed out of the Coppa Italia quarter-final to Cremonese.
The pressure is therefore on to deliver results in an increasingly tight battle for the top four.
“Every time we talk about the Champions League race, we have to remind people that Serie A is very competitive,” Tiago Pinto told DAZN.
“We want to give a gift to our fans, who once again packed the stadium after a Wednesday night when we didn’t do very well. We need to get all three points and keep hoping for a Champions League place.”
Inevitably, there were questions about what the future holds for Zaniolo and Tiago Pinto reiterated the plan is not to let him back into the squad.
“I think the club has been pretty clear on Nicolo and it would not be positive for anyone at this moment to talk about the situation every time.”
Smalling starts this evening and that automatically activates a clause to renew his contract, but the England international still has the right to activate or reject it, with a deal set to expire this June.
“As for Smalling, the ball is in his court. Both parties want to continue together, there are still things to be talked about, but this clause does give him the power to decide if he wants to stay or not.”
The former Manchester United centre-back has been linked with Inter as a potential heir to Milan Skriniar, who in turn is set to join Paris Saint-Germain as a free agent.