Justin Kluivert is not part of AS Roma’s 27-man squad for the preparation for the new season. The 22-year-old attacker was loaned to RB Leipzig last season, but the German club decided not to include the option to buy in the lease. Rick Karsdorp does belong to the selection corps that Mourinho takes with him for the preparation for the new season.
The selection of AS Roma is missing the players who are currently away with international obligations or who are injured. Alessandro Florenzi and Bryan Cristante will play the European Championship final against England with Italy next Sunday, while Leonardo Spinazzola tore his Achilles tendon in the quarterfinals against Belgium, had to go under the knife and is therefore out of circulation for months. However, the necessary players are also missing from AS Roma’s selection, because they are not in Mourinho’s plans.
?? La lista dei convocati per l’inizio della preparazione#ASRoma pic.twitter.com/iHnYmCZ7Mm
— AS Roma (@OfficialASRoma) July 8, 2021
In addition to Kluivert, Robin Olsen, Pedro, Javier Pastore, Federico Fazio, Steven Nzonzi, and Davide Santon are also not part of the AS Roma selection. The Romans started preparing for the new season on Thursday with the annual medical tests. The fact that Kluivert is not included in the selection is a surprise in Italy, where there is talk of ‘technical reasons’ for the lack of the international of the Dutch Juniors. Mourinho showed in the past that he was charmed by Kluivert and it was therefore counted that he would get a new chance at AS Roma under the new trainer.
“No, I haven’t spoken to Mourinho yet. The season has just ended, we’ll see what happens,” Kluivert said a month ago in conversation with Football International. His contract with AS Roma will continue until mid-2023, but L’Equipe reported last month that the Romans are not unsympathetic to a definitive departure from Kluivert. Last season, the attacker played on loan for RB Leipzig, where he scored 4 goals and 1 assist in 29 official games.
RB Leipzig would reportedly want to take him over permanently, but saw an offer of twelve million euros rejected. The name of Kluivert was also associated with Olympique Marseille and OGC Nice. AS Roma paid seventeen million euros in the summer of 2018 to release Kluivert from Ajax. In the two seasons he spent in Rome, he did not become an undisputed starting player: so far he has 68 games to his name for AS Roma, in which he was good for 9 goals and 8 assists.