Roma’s Pre-Season Highlights: Dybala and Dovbyk Shine
Roma’s pre-season began with the sort of gentle run-out that rarely tells the full story. This one offered a pretty strong hint.
Against the club’s Primavera side, Roma cruised to a 6-0 win, but the real result for Gian Piero Gasperini was seeing Paulo Dybala look like Paulo Dybala again.
The Argentine, whose bursts of class dragged Roma through the final weeks of last season, picked up exactly where he left off. He scored twice, laid on an assist and, as reported by TuttoMercatoWeb, sprinkled the match with those small, sharp touches that separate him from the crowd. More than the numbers, it was the way he moved: light, sharp, and in notably good physical condition for this stage of July.
Gasperini has never hidden it: a fully fit Dybala changes Roma’s ceiling. The caveat has always been the same – “fitness record permitting.” On this evidence, at least, the foundation looks solid.
Dovbyk back in the frame
There was another encouraging sight in the attacking third. Artem Dovbyk, sidelined for much of the run-in after tendon surgery, stepped back onto the pitch with a point to prove and the transfer market whispering around his name.
He responded with two goals and could easily have finished with more. His movement was aggressive, his timing sharp, the kind of centre-forward performance that forces a coach to think twice before signing off on any sale.
That matters. Dovbyk has been mentioned as a potential departure to help finance new arrivals, with Roma pushing to strengthen out wide and eyeing options such as Crysencio Summerville. These next few weeks will be his audition: convince Gasperini he is part of the project, or become the asset that funds it.
For one afternoon, at least, he looked every inch a striker determined to stay in the capital and fight for his place.
Pre-season friendlies rarely define a campaign. But when your most gifted creator looks lean and ruthless, and your recovering No 9 starts by filling the net, they can certainly reshape the conversation about what comes next for Roma.
