Roma director Tiago Pinto said the ‘right moment will come’ when he discusses the Nicolò Zaniolo situation after the player asked for a return to the squad.
The Coppa Italia quarter-final against Cremonese kicks off at the Stadio Olimpico at 20.00 GMT, with the winners going on to face Fiorentina.
You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens on the LIVEBLOG.
“Cremonese already beat Napoli in this competition and that says everything,” Tiago Pinto told Sport Mediaset.
“We are eager and determined to continue in this tournament, but we must play this game as if it is a final.”
Inevitably, there were questions about outcast Zaniolo, who first refused to play, then turned down a transfer to Bournemouth and then escaped to his family home in La Spezia after receiving threats from ultras.
Earlier this evening, Zaniolo released an open letter insisting he was ready to “hold out my hand, putting myself at the complete disposal of the Roma family.”
However, Tiago Pinto tried very hard not to give any response to the latest missive from the Italy international.
“I don’t want to talk about Nicolò this evening, this is not the moment, we have a Coppa Italia quarter-final that is very important for us and we want to focus entirely on that.
“I understand that you have curiosity, but the right time will come when I will talk about this. The club wants to take a couple of days to fully evaluate the situation. It will probably be next week.”
Jose Mourinho said several times over the last few weeks that he recognised Roma have strong financial limitations, also due to FFP rules, and cannot bring in the reinforcements he would desire.
“There were many limitations and fences we had to stay within, so we did what was possible, but that is true of all Italian clubs right now. If you ask me if I am as happy now as I was in the summer with our transfer strategy, I will say no.”