Roma's summer transfer business didn't exactly set the world alight. The club moved to reinforce their notoriously flaky defence preseason, but with new left-back Mario Rui struck down with a cruciate ligament injury almost straight after arriving and Bruno Peres more use going towards the opposition goal than defending his own, it's been left to loan signings Thomas Vermaelen, Juan Jesus and Federico Fazio to plug the gaps.
All three were brought in as back-up for the established centre-back pairing of Kostas Manolas and Antonio Rudiger (while Jesus can also cover left-back, at least in theory), and their signings weren't much more than low-risk bets. But while both Vermaelen and Jesus have floundered in the Italian capital, Fazio is a player reborn, and in a matter of months has become one of Roma's most important players.
To say that Fazio's signing failed to excite would be an understatement. The Guardian's Football Weekly podcast jokingly referred to the pair as "North London's finest," and with good reason. Vermaelen had barely played for Barcelona after moving to Catalonia from Arsenal in 2014, while Fazio's disastrous spell at Tottenham, which saw him play just once in the first half of the 2015-16 season -- a 2-1 league cup defeat to Arsenal -- was followed up by a low-key loan spell back at former club Sevilla. He played just six times there before being shipped out to Serie A.
Initially, the Argentine was even behind Vermaelen in the pecking order, but after taking advantage of the Belgian's pitfalls and extended injury lay offs, as well as the cruciate ligament injury Rudiger picked up before Euro 2016, he has carved out a crucial role in Roma's vastly improved backline. He will lead that line at Udinese on Sunday.
Fazio put in a man-of-the-match performance last week at Genoa, where Roma scrabbled the sort of hard-fought 1-0 win that were Juventus not so frustratingly far ahead of everyone else would be the mark of champions. He, in the heart of a back three alongside Rudiger and Jesus, and the also much-improved goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, held the castle gates shut, keeping Genoa out in the tense second half of a match that was played in freezing conditions and on a pitch that looked like it had been roughed up by a drunk tractor. He's become such a fixture the he even led the team's celebrations after the Armando Izzo own goal that decided the contest.
"Some players didn't feel like celebrating because it was an own goal," Fazio said to Roma Radio on Monday. "But we won thanks to that goal, and we should celebrate it as though it were the most beautiful goal ever scored."
Rudiger is suspended for Sunday's clash after picking up his fifth booking in six games last week. And despite star defender Manolas coming back from injury in the nick of time, it will be Fazio rather than the highly sought after Greek who will take centre stage in the back three that has so impressed in recent weeks. It will also be a chance for the Argentine to show that Roma's defensive Renaissance isn't all down to the absent German.
While Rudiger was working his way back from his ACL injury Roma conceded a whopping 12 goals in 10 league matches, and were second in the league thanks to the ludicrous 26 goals scored in that time. The German has played nearly every minute after returning in the dying minutes of Roma's 3-1 win at Sassuolo in late October. While the goals have dried up a bit since then -- just 14, nearly half their post-Sassuolo total -- they have conceded just six in nine, the best defensive record of any team in the league in that period, alongside AC Milan. No wonder everyone is praising the Germany international.
However, Luciano Spalletti is a canny manager, and despite the raft of absences he has to deal with -- Daniele De Rossi, Mohamed Salah and Diego Perotti all joining Rudiger out for one reason or another -- keeping Fazio in command of the defence for the match at the Stadio Friuli is no act of desperation.
Leandro Paredes will line up in midfield alongside Kevin Strootman, and Stephan El Shaarawy will start in attack with Edin Dzeko, as Roma hope and pray that Fiorentina can reignite a to date uninspiring title race by taking points off their hated rivals Juve in Sunday night's Serie A showpiece. Manolas meanwhile will take Rudiger's place on the right of the backline, with Brazilian wing-backs Emerson Palmieri and Peres out on each flank. That's a massive show of faith in Fazio, whose rebirth as the Giallorossi's defensive lynchpin might even hasten his central defensive partner's departure.
Both Manchester United and Chelsea are still reportedly interested in Manolas, and might even be planning a mega-money move for him this transfer window. Regardless, Roma's need to sell before they can seriously strengthen will likely move them to snap up the cash while they can, be it this month or in the summer. Knowing that they have a ready made replacement in the ranks will soften the blow.