Roma edge in for Gomez?

By Football Italia staff

Roma are listed as ready to step in for Fiorentina’s Mario Gomez following criticism from Vincenzo Montella, whilst Lukas Podolski backs the forward.

The German striker could be on his way out from the purple contingent following poor form this term, and has already been linked to Swansea.

Montella was critical this week of the 29-year-old, commenting: “It's time to draw our conclusions, and I expect more from him. He certainly isn't the player we admired in the past.

“The tifosi have always been close to him, but he seems to be suffering from a psychological block.

“For my own part, when I understood that I was no longer able to perform as I did when I was younger, and that I couldn't find the goal quite as well, I stopped. I understood that my career had come to the end, even though I still had one year of contract.”

L’Aeroplanino’s statements were followed the day after by a retort from the player’s agent.

“These statements are absolutely not justifiable, in fact I think they are counter-productive in such a delicate situation,” said Ulrich Ferber in an interview with Der Spiegel. “The time to draw conclusions will only come at the end of a certain path.”

Today, the Gazzetta dello Sport suggest that such a situation increases Gomez’s chances of leaving, even on loan, and that it is Roma who are closely following the situation at the moment.

Meanwhile, Inter's new signing Lukas Podolski has added his opinion on his international teammate’s situation.

“Certain things should not be said,” commented the striker, in an interview with Bild. “Montella made a mistake with Gomez.

“A Coach should defend his players, especially the champions who are undergoing a negative moment because of injuries. Mario will return to his former quality.”

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