Roma Rely on Youth as Gasperini Names Teenage Squad for Udinese
Gian Piero Gasperini is taking a bold, youthful Roma on the road.
For Saturday’s trip to Udinese, the Roma coach has called up a 22-man squad laced with five teenagers, forced into reshaping his side by a string of injuries but also clearly willing to trust the club’s emerging talent.
Key figures are missing. Paulo Dybala is out. Manu Kone is sidelined. First-choice goalkeeper Mile Svilar is unavailable. Captain Lorenzo Pellegrini will also stay in Rome. That’s the spine of a title-chasing side ripped out in one go.
So Gasperini turns to the next wave.
Gollini in goal, kids on the bench
Pierluigi Gollini is set to continue between the posts in Svilar’s absence, with Devis Vasquez and 19-year-old Giorgio De Marzi named as his back-ups. It is a safety net with a clear message: Roma’s goalkeeping department now has a teenager one injury away from a Serie A debut.
The outfield picture is even more striking.
Emanuele Lulli, 19, keeps his place after announcing himself with goals in each of his last two league appearances. The wing-back has injected energy and end product on the flank, and his rapid rise has come at exactly the right time for a squad stretched by injuries.
He is joined by fellow 19-year-olds Rodrigo Mora and Alessandro Di Nunzio, along with 17-year-old Mandjou Camara. Mora, a summer signing, and Di Nunzio, a product of the academy, give Gasperini fresh options in midfield and between the lines, while Camara represents the very youngest edge of Roma’s project, now being exposed to a first-team environment in a pressure situation.
Unbeaten Roma, desperate Udinese
Roma travel north as one of only three unbeaten sides in Serie A after nine rounds of the 2026-27 season. Gasperini’s team has not been perfect, but it has been relentless. Their latest outing, a 4-2 win over Cagliari at the Stadio Olimpico earlier this week, underlined both their attacking firepower and their willingness to trade blows in open contests.
Udinese are living a very different story.
Under Kosta Runjaic they have lost six straight league matches, a brutal run that has dragged them to the edge of the relegation zone on just five points. Confidence is brittle, the margins are thin, and a vibrant, unbeaten Roma side is hardly the opponent they would have chosen to face next.
The contrast is stark: a wounded but surging Roma, patched up by youth, against an Udinese side simply trying to stop the bleeding.
Experience around the youngsters
Despite the teenage influx, this is no makeshift Roma XI cobbled together from the academy. The squad list shows plenty of hardened Serie A campaigners.
At the back, Gasperini can still call on Gianluca Mancini, Evan Ndicka, Mario Hermoso, Leonardo Balerdi and Wesley Franca, with Devyne Rensch, Nahuel Molina, Konstantinos Koulierakis, Emanuele Lulli and Daniele Ghilardi providing depth and variety in the defensive lanes.
In midfield, Bryan Cristante and Marten De Roon bring steel, structure and experience, anchoring a unit that also features Niccolo Pisilli, Di Nunzio and Mora. The blend is clear: battle-tested lieutenants flanked by ambitious youngsters, all tasked with protecting an unbeaten start to the campaign.
Roma’s confirmed squad vs Udinese:
- Goalkeepers: Devis Vasquez, Giorgio De Marzi, Pierluigi Gollini
- Defenders: Devyne Rensch, Konstantinos Koulierakis, Evan Ndicka, Nahuel Molina, Mario Hermoso, Gianluca Mancini, Leonardo Balerdi, Wesley Franca, Emanuele Lulli, Daniele Ghilardi
- Midfielders: Bryan Cristante, Marten De Roon, Niccolo Pisilli, Alessandro Di Nunzio, Rodrigo Mora
An unbeaten run on one side, a six-game losing streak on the other. Gasperini’s faith in Roma’s kids is about to be tested in a match that could either harden their title credentials or open the door to doubt.
