Roma director Claudio Ranieri has warned that Roma ‘can’t afford’ to take on any further financial fair play sanctions, and has indicated that the Giallorossi will look to sell players if required if it means keeping hold of their place in the Europa League or Champions League.
Ranieri has given an in-depth interview to Sky Sport Italia, who have published the first snippets of the Roma director’s conversation.
Ranieri, who served as Roma’s interim head coach last season, and came within two points of bringing the club back to the Champions League, is now acting as a senior advisor to the club.
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During his interview with Sky, he spoke about the implications of Roma’s ongoing financial fair play battles, and warned of the consequences if the club falls short of the requirements.
“First of all, we have to be in line with the accounts,” Ranieri told Sky (via TMW).
“We’ll see how the league goes, where we end up and how it goes in the Europa League. This is all income that brings us additional value.
“Then, at the very worst, we will have someone to sell. We can’t afford to take a ‘red card’, or exclusion from any competitions. So we have to keep our accounts in order.”
BERGAMO, ITALY – MAY 12: Claudio Ranieri, Head Coach of AS Roma looks on prior to the Serie A match between Atalanta and AS Roma at Gewiss Stadium on May 12, 2025 in Bergamo, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)
Ranieri went on to talk about Roma’s pursuit of Jadon Sancho during the summer transfer window. He claims that the Giallorossi needed to sell a player before that deal became viable, which ultimately, did not happen.
“It was a very expensive operation economically, but the Friedkins would have done it to please the coach,” Ranieri said.
“Of course, someone needed to be sold. Until a valuable player was sold, it couldn’t be done. I don’t think that a valuable player would have ever been sold, because we want to keep them at the moment.
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – AUGUST 26: Manchester United player Jadon Sancho in action during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Nottingham Forest at Old Trafford on August 26, 2023 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)
“We had to bring in young players with the hope that the coach makes the most out of them so that we can resell them to fall within the parameters of financial fair play.”
And on potential new contracts for senior players Lorenzo Pellegrini and Paulo Dybala, Ranieri said: “The renewals of Pellegrini and Dybala depend on what happens on the pitch. There is maximum support from the Friedkins.”
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