Gasperini: Dybala and Soulé out, how I convinced Malen to join Roma from Aston Villa | OneFootball

Gian Piero Gasperini says Paulo Dybala and Matias Soulé won’t be available for tomorrow’s Serie A match against Cremonese, but explains how he convinced Donyell Malen to join Roma from Aston Villa in January.

Roma are preparing for a home Serie A match against Jamie Vardy’s Cremonese on Sunday.

The Giallorossi sit fourth in the table, just one point above Juventus, who play in Turin against Como today.

“It will be a tough game. Now the points start to count more and, as usual, games in the second part of the season become trickier,” Gasperini said at a press conference via Sky Sport Italia.

“We have strong motivations. We don’t want to drop down. If we don’t make mistakes, it becomes tough for others.”

TURIN, ITALY – JANUARY 18: Paulo Dybala of AS Roma in action during the Serie A match between Torino FC and AS Roma at Stadio Olimpico di Torino on January 18, 2026 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Valerio Pennicino/Getty Images)

The Giallorossi will be without Argentine stars Dybala and Soulé, Gasp said: “Soulé hasn’t trained all week, so he won’t be available. Hopefully, he returns for the next ones. Venturino and Vaz are very young, and we had to throw them in right away to gauge their level of maturity. Venturino has already played some games at Genoa. Vaz was a very important investment for the club. I’m trying to understand how important he can be now, but in the future, he’ll surely be as such.

“The three points are fundamental tomorrow, so we must give our all. Dybala won’t be there; he’s continuing to recover and is doing his best, but still feels discomfort.”

Malen, however, has had a terrific impact since joining Roma, scoring five goals in his first five Serie A matches.

“I think Serie A is more difficult than other leagues, especially for strikers. I’m convinced he can be decisive in that role,” Gasperini said.

ROME, ITALY – DECEMBER 15: Matias Soule of AS Roma gestures during the Serie A match between AS Roma and Como 1907 at Stadio Olimpico on December 15, 2025 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Paolo Bruno/Getty Images)

“He played for Aston Villa and the national team. The way I convinced him to come and play for Roma was by telling him, ‘You’ll play.’ He often ended up on the wing, but for me, he’s a striker, and he wanted this. A striker doesn’t have to be 1,90m tall.

“I think we are already on a good level, but everything can improve. If you lose strikers for one and a half months, it becomes more difficult for everyone,” Gasp continued.

“We don’t know when and if they’ll return, that’s the point. In this context, I’m trying to involve Venturino and Vaz. Zaragoza has just arrived, and Malen was surely a signing that added value. Right now, we hope there won’t be more injuries. Cup games return in 20 days, and we’ll have to play once every three days.”

With Artem Dovbyk and Evan Ferguson out of action, Gasperini is short of options in attack, so he could use either Manu Koné or Niccolò Pisilli in a more advanced position.

“We have plenty of options in that department; we need to understand whether we can also use them further up the pitch, given the absences up front,” said the Roma boss.

“There’s room for improvement. Pellegrini has played a lot, and a moment of reduced sharpness is understandable. We must give time to Zaragoza. We have involved him right away, but he has valid skill sets; he has already shown his qualities, but he needs some games to integrate with the team.”

Roma have some crucial games ahead, including one against Juventus next week.

NAPLES, ITALY – FEBRUARY 15: Donyell Malen of AS Roma celebrates after scoring his side’s second goal during the Serie A match between SSC Napoli and AS Roma at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on February 15, 2026, in Naples, Italy. (Photo by Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images)

“I want to reiterate that Ranieri and the club have always said this was a transition season, where we’d need to build and develop the team. I’ve talked about the Champions League,” Gasperini said.

“I’ve left it, and I miss it. If someone thinks they can put pressure on me, they couldn’t be more wrong. I’ve set this target, but we have to eliminate Juve, Napoli, or Como. I came here to build something solid. It’s not true that it’s impossible to work in this city. It’s difficult, but not for the environment.”

Lastly, Gasperini also commented on recent referee controversies coming after the Inter-Juventus match.

“Football is a contact sport; if you take away the tackle, you take away a beautiful gesture,” the Roma coach concluded.

“Handballs have always been a problem, while diving is a more recent issue caused by the interpretation of freeze-frames, which has accelerated this process. Last Sunday, aside from the Bastoni-Kalulu incident, there were at least two other blatant incidents.”