Roma have not given up on Joshua Zirkzee, even as Gian Piero Gasperini pushes to stop a wide summer spending spree and bring only a limited number of useful players to Trigoria.
Gasperini rates the Manchester United forward highly and believes he could be paired with Malen, who has scored 13 league goals since January, a sign the coach is looking for quality rather than volume as he shapes his first market at Roma.
That is why the name of Dan Ndoye has also entered the conversation. According to Gianluigi Longari, the winger has been offered to Roma ahead of the summer, and the club is now evaluating him. Ndoye is currently at Nottingham Forest, but his profile has stayed visible in Italy after his time at Bologna last season.
The two tracks are connected by the same idea. Roma are pursuing targeted reinforcements under Gasperini, and both Zirkzee and Ndoye fit into a search for players the coach can trust quickly rather than a long list of speculative additions. Zirkzee, a former Bologna player, carries that link to Ndoye through the club where both made their names in Serie A.
What gives the Zirkzee option renewed life is his situation in England. He is increasingly on the sidelines at Manchester United and has barely played any minutes in the second half of the season, leaving his role there unsettled at exactly the moment Roma are looking at ways to sharpen their attack.
The tension is that Roma are not treating this as a simple bidding war or a race to sign the first available name. Gasperini wants the summer plan to be lean, and that means every forward must answer a precise tactical need. Ndoye has been put forward, but Zirkzee remains the more ambitious idea because the coach sees a partnership with Malen that could work if the pieces arrive in the right order.
For Roma, the next step is not a splash but a choice. If Gasperini gets his way, the club will not flood Trigoria with signings. It will move for the few players he believes can change the attack, and Zirkzee is still among them.
