Roma's Winger Dilemma: Summerville vs. Godts
Roma’s summer hunt for a marquee winger has reached its first real crossroads. Crysencio Summerville is still the name written in bold on the club’s shortlist, but the numbers around his contract have opened the door for a very different profile: Mika Godts of Ajax.
Summerville: the first choice with first-class demands
According to Corriere dello Sport, via TuttoMercatoWeb, Roma remain locked on Summerville as their primary target and are ready to push hard on the fee. The Giallorossi are prepared to put €40 million on the table for West Ham, bonuses included, to try to bring the Dutchman to the capital.
The problem no longer lies with the English club. It lies with the player.
Summerville’s camp are asking for a salary package in the region of €6–7 million per season. Those figures have forced Roma to hit the brakes, a sharp change of pace from earlier in the week when an agreement on personal terms had seemed close enough to touch.
What looked like a straight sprint to the finish has turned into a negotiation with real financial strain. For a club still carefully managing its wage bill, committing that level of salary to one wide forward is not a simple decision, even for a Champions League campaign.
Godts: the younger, cleaner fit
As the talks with Summerville stall, sporting director Tony D’Amico has turned to the board with another name: Mika Godts.
The 21-year-old Belgian is not a budget signing in terms of transfer fee. Reports suggest Ajax would demand a figure broadly in line with the Summerville deal. The difference is what happens once the contract is signed.
Godts’ wages fit comfortably inside Roma’s current structure. No need to tear up the internal hierarchy or stretch the club’s limits. At four years younger than Summerville, he also offers something every sporting director craves: time. Time to develop, time to grow in value, time to become a cornerstone rather than a short-term solution.
His output last season makes that argument loudly enough. Across 44 appearances for Ajax, Godts produced 17 goals and 15 assists, a breakout year that didn’t go unnoticed. Bayern Munich and Chelsea have both been previously linked, a sign that Roma are not the only major club to see a high ceiling in his game.
A familiar dilemma for Roma
So the equation in Trigoria is clear, and it is one Roma know well. Pay a premium in wages for the more polished, more proven Summerville, or invest similar money in a player with a higher upside and a lower immediate cost on the payroll.
Summerville offers readiness. He is closer to the finished article, a winger expected to impact straight away at Champions League level. Godts offers projection. Similar transfer outlay, but a contract that leaves more room to manoeuvre in future windows and potentially a higher resale value if his trajectory continues.
This is not just a scouting call; it is a strategic one.
Gasperini waits for his wide man
Hovering over all of it is Gian Piero Gasperini’s impatience. The coach is waiting for his “marquee” wide player, the man expected to stretch defences and carry Roma into Europe’s elite competition with genuine threat from the flanks.
Pre-season plans, tactical drills, automatisms on the wings – they all depend on knowing who that player will be. D’Amico can study the market and weigh the options, but time is not his ally.
At some point, Roma will have to decide: pay Summerville like a star now, or bet on Godts becoming one.
