‘Hasn’t trained properly’ 

©TM/IMAGO

The new era at Roma under the hugely respected Gian Piero Gasperini has generated significant optimism, but Evan Ferguson has endured a difficult start. Ferguson headed to the historical Italian city with the intentions of reviving his waning career and delivering on his unquestionable potential.

After rising to prominence at Brighton, Ferguson was famously tipped as a future £100 million player with a hat-trick against Newcastle United the highlight of his story, so far. The Irishman’s journey, however, unquestionably stalled last season and a hugely unsuccessful loan spell at West Ham – where he failed to register a single goal – left his career at crossroads. Ferguson was firmly down the pecking order at Brighton under Fabian Hürzeler and he departed on-loan to Roma but his recent troubles have continued in Italy.

Evan Ferguson: Roma start and Gasperini criticism

Ahead of the midweek fixtures in Serie A, Roma sit second in the table, level on points with league leaders Napoli. Giallorossi appointed Gasperini after the guileful Italian enjoyed incredible success at Atalanta, leading them to their first major trophy in 61 years with the Europa League in 2024. The 67-year-old has made an immediate impact at the Stadio Olympiaco but Ferguson hasn’t hit the ground running. The 21-year-old has failed to score in nine games for Roma and he was an unused substitute in the weekend win against Sassuolo.

 That arrived just days after Ferguson was strongly criticised by Gasperini after Roma’s Europa League defeat to Viktoria Plzen. “Evan Ferguson has played in 9 out of 10 games,”said Gasperini. “He has to deliver on the pitch and his performances haven’t been positive. To be honest, yesterday was the first time I saw him train properly. He’s coming from the PL, and he hasn’t played much last season. We need to be patient with him”. Despite the criticism, Gasperini has handed more minutes to Ferguson than any other striker this season but his patience is clearly wearing thin – the Brighton loanee has scored three times for Ireland this season.

Evan Ferguson’s market value development

Ferguson’s recent struggles aren’t solely limited to his time at Roma and he’s only made ten club starts across the last two seasons. Injuries have disrupted his development but he was once viewed as one of most exciting young strikers in Europe. After bursting onto the scene in 2023, Ferguson’s market skyrocketed from €1million to €65m across the calendar year.

As the graphic above illustrates, Ferguson’s valuation has dropped consistently since he reached his record valuation of €65m. The Ireland international is currently valued at €25m and it remained the same after the recent Serie A market value update. Interestingly, Ferguson is the fourth most valuable player at Roma and he will be determined for his fortunes to change to make his spell in Italy successful.