Recently, though, things have been primarily positive. Roma is second in the league standings and will almost certainly return to the Champions League next season. On Monday morning, Pallotta sipped coffee at his hotel and smiled when the doorman said, “Good morning, Presidente!” He had just arrived in town, where on Wednesday, Roma will reveal the design of the club’s much-discussed new stadium, which it hopes will open in 2016. The project, which will be financed privately and includes the 52,500-seat stadium as well as other entertainment sites and mass-transit additions, is expected to cost more than $300 million.

“The stadium is a very important piece for us,” Pallotta said in an interview. “With the stadium there and if we do what our plans say we’re going to do, I believe we can be one of the top three clubs in the world. That’s the goal — I’m not afraid to say it.”

Pallotta’s spirit is hardly surprising; global ambitions are de rigueur for any soccer club of meaningful size these days. Barcelona and Manchester United are pushing for an even greater presence in Asia; Bayern Munich has opened an office in New York; and this summer, Roma will tour the United States for the third consecutive year.

In other words, Pallotta’s plans are not unique. But the task and challenges facing him are surely different, primarily because of Italy’s soccer culture, not to mention its history and notorious bureaucracy.