Wesley issue also causing friction between Gasperini and Ranieri at Roma

The availability of Roma wing-back Wesley Franca is also contributing to the ongoing tensions between head coach Gian Piero Gasperini and senior advisor to the club Claudio Ranieri, and the latest updates hint towards the Brazilian not being available to face Atalanta in Serie A this weekend. 

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Internal divisions have broken out in the Roma camp. Last week, Ranieri gave an interview claiming that Gasperini was not in the club’s top three candidates for the head coach role prior to his appointment last summer, also hitting back at the tactician for his previous criticism of the players that the club brought in during the transfer window. 

This left the coach and senior advisor reportedly ignoring each other at the club’s training ground earlier this week.  Gasperini has since admitted that he was left ‘surprised’ by the comments that Ranieri made about him last week. 

Now, reports in Italy indicate that the situation has already become untenable and that the club’s owners will have to decide whether to side with Gasperini or with Ranieri and sporting director Ricky Massara. It currently appears unlikely that both parties will still be at the club for the start of the 2026-27 season. 

Gasperini and Ranieri also in disagreement over Wesley availability 

According to reports from La Gazzetta dello Sport on Friday, Gasperini and Ranieri are also in disagreement over the availability of wing-back Wesley for Saturday’s crucial Serie A match against Atalanta. 

Injuries have been an issue for Roma all season and Gasperini has constantly criticised both the recruitment of injury-prone players such as Evan Ferguson and Leon Bailey, as well as the handling of their situations by the club’s medical staff. 

Wesley, meanwhile, along with January recruit Donyell Malen, are the two signings that Gasperini has previously singled out as examples to follow in the future, but the Brazilian has now also been unavailable for the last three Serie A matches, one through suspension and two as the result of a hamstring injury. 

According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Wesley has been training individually this week and Gasperini had hoped that he would be back and available to play against Atalanta this weekend. The advice from the medical staff, however, is that he is not ready, which prevented him from training with the group on Friday. That is despite the fact that Wesley himself feels okay to play. 

Gasperini has also called upon the advice of an external doctor, Dr. Georg Ahlmaumer, despite the advice from the club’s medical staff. The coach feels that Wesley’s return is behind schedule, while Ranieri, siding with the club’s medical staff, feels that the Brazilian is being rushed back. 

La Gazzetta dello Sport describes the Wesley situation as the ‘straw that broke the camel’s back’ in the relationship between Gasperini and Ranieri. 

Gasperini has since had an opportunity to discuss the Wesley situation during his pre-Atalanta press conference on Friday. 

“Wesley currently feels he can play, but the medical staff believes there are risks,” Gasperini insisted. 

“This also leads to issues and discussions. We’ll see what happens tomorrow, but if the doctors say no, I can only follow that. Everything depends on medical clearance. It’s a shame to have lost Pellegrini. Pisilli picked up an ankle sprain at the start of the week. He seems to have recovered; we’ll assess him today.”