Luciano Spaletti believes that he now needs “two defenders” after injury blows to Mario Rui and Antonio Rudiger.

Rui joined the capital club from Empoli off the back of a fine season and now faces between four and six months on the sidelines having torn his cruciate ligament in a training session while on the club's tour of the US, where they are participating in the International Champions Cup.

Roma have already brought three defenders to the club this summer with Juan Jesus and Moustapha Seck joining Rui at the Stadio Olimpico. Norbert Gyomber and Rudiger also signed permanent deals with Serie A club following last season’s loan spells from Stuttgart and Udinese respectively.

The 57-year-old boss seems to be taking no chances as he looks to start the season strongly with La Maggica and improve on last term's third place finish.

“Costly” injuries

Spaletti's labelled the news of Rui joining Rudiger on the treatment table as “costly.” 

The Roma coach told CalcioNews24: “His (Rui) injury is very costly to us because it comes in combination with that of Rudiger.

The 57-year-old then revealed it was a huge blow to his season plans after he had signed three new defenders in a bid to solve Roma’s defensive woes: “Earlier we were close to fixing our defence, but now we need to operate on it again.”

Rui signed for Roma this summer (Photo: itasportpress)
Rui signed for Roma this summer (Photo: itasportpress)

The Giallorossi still could have possibly coped with Kostas Manolas, Juan Jesus, Gyomber and Seck who all offer cover but with the aspirations that lie ahead for Lupi this season, Spalletti has made his feelings known to the club’s hierachy, “Considering our numbers against the matches and the championship we have to play, we must be ready. We're looking for two defenders, the club agrees with me on that.”

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About the author
Jordan Cronin
Sports Journalist. Editor/ Writer for the Newcastle United office.