Negotiations for the purchase of AS Roma are now in full swing as Boston-based businessman Thomas DiBenedetto has flown to Italy to secure a deal for the struggling Serie A side. DiBenedetto leads an investment group which may be prepared to pay up to €77M ($108M) for a controlling stake in the club, which currently lies well out of the Scudetto race in 6th place and has been racking up enough debt to make their financial future extremely shaky. DiBenedetto was quoted in the Guardian as saying that his ultimate goal is to make Roma a force capable of competing at the highest level, but admitted there were obstacles to overcome first:
AS Roma On Verge Of Takeover As Thomas DiBenedetto Swoops In
My dream is exactly the same as millions of fans: to make Roma one of the top clubs in the world – a squad capable of winning [the Serie A] every year and capable of finally being competitive in the Champions League.
[Our first priority is] getting the budget in order and bringing the club under the financial fair play parameters, considering that currently we’re not.
With all of that said, he still made it clear that the plan is to rejuvenate a squad that's been a major disappointment this season, barely making it out of the group stages in the Champions League before falling to Shaktar Donesk in embarrassing fashion as well as being well off the pace in the league, twelve points behind leaders AC Milan and six out of the top-four finish they need to reclaim their place in the Champions League.
If DiBenedetto’s deal does go through, getting Roma to where they want to be is not going to be a walk in the park.
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