​Now that Roma has seemingly stepped back from the Mason Greenwood saga, the club is free to redirect its focus toward other targets. Whether Tony D’Amico and Gian Piero Gasperini were ever truly pursuing the troubled English attacker remains uncertain, but the ongoing stream of rumors underscored, if it needed underscoring, the club’s determination to bolster its attacking options this summer. With the combined cost of Greenwood’s transfer fee and his reported salary demands climbing north of €100 million, Roma can pivot toward more practical possibilities. Luckily for readers, Gazzetta dello Sport has supplied another name to consider: Can Uzun, an Eintracht Frankfurt midfielder/winger who will be a familiar name to CdT regulars.
I’m not one to boast too loudly, but let’s face it: Uzun is precisely the type of high-upside project Roma has been prioritizing. In April, as we weighed competing visions for the summer, we singled out the 20-year-old Turkish attacker as an ideal fit for Gasperini’s system. Consider a big-ticket move that prioritizes potential over immediate experience: Uzun, who plays for Eintracht Frankfurt, has been limited to about 811 minutes this season due to a string of muscular injuries. Despite the setbacks, he has managed six goals and three assists, earning rave reviews from across the Bundesliga and a Transfermarkt valuation in the €40–€45 million range. (Take note: release clauses vary by report, but we’ll work with this figure for now.)
In this scenario, Roma would secure Uzun at the ground floor, offering him a full-time role and the keys to Gasperini’s attack, with an eye toward a later sale to the Premier League after two seasons of development. To smooth Uzun’s transition, the plan would include signing Julian Brandt on a free transfer to add depth as the schedule becomes congested in the late autumn and early winter.
Uzun’s injury history has kept him to roughly 1,500 minutes in all competitions last season, yet he still produced 10 goals and five assists across all competitions—a respectable return for a 19 or 20-year-old in the Bundesliga. Even so, any potential Uzun move is driven by potential as much as by current production. While he may not fit the classic mold of a number 10, Uzun embodies the exact type of “turn and go” creativity that Gasperini’s system requires. Rather than dutifully recycling possession, he tends to float around the margins of the opposition’s midfield and defensive lines, pouncing on loose balls, turning quickly, driving forward, and challenging the defense on the run.
Given his age and the degree of his inexperience, there will inevitably be growing pains. Yet his €45 million price tag is a reflection of his talent and potential—the value proposition Roma would be banking on as they shape a more dynamic attacking unit for the coming seasons. For Roma, Uzun represents not just a transfer but a long-term investment in a project with a high ceiling, one that could fit seamlessly into Gasperini’s tactical blueprint and help the club pursue a more aggressive, high-pressing, and vertical style of play. If the stars align, Uzun could bloom into a pivotal figure for Roma, supplying pace, incision, and a fresh dimension to the squad’s forward line.