Roma are in direct negotiations with Bologna over the transfer of Santiago Castro, the 21-year-old Argentine forward, with the capital club prepared to include Artem Dovbyk or Renato Veiga Vaz as part of the deal structure. The talks are described as well advanced, making Castro the clearest piece of outgoing business Bologna must resolve before the new season begins.
The timing is pointed. Bologna, managed by Vincenzo Italiano, finished 2025-26 in eighth place on 55 points — a respectable mid-table position but one that offers no European football to sweeten any retention argument. Castro, who turned in 34 league appearances across the season, contributed seven goals and two assists at an average rating of 6.70. Those are the numbers of a useful squad forward, not yet a decisive one, and they reflect both his promise and the ceiling he has approached at this level of involvement.
His AI overall score of 65 out of a possible 100, with a projected ceiling of 78, is the more instructive figure. It suggests a player who has absorbed what Bologna can teach him and is approaching the point where a larger environment — more competitive training, higher-stakes matches, a deeper squad pressing him for minutes — would accelerate rather than replicate his development. Roma, under Gian Piero Gasperini, would offer exactly that friction.
The pre-season has added texture to the picture. Castro scored in Bologna's 1-1 draw against Heidenheim in late July, and the rossoblù followed that with a 2-0 win over Iraklis, though it was Thijs Dallinga and Lewis Rowe who provided the goals in that fixture. Castro's absence from the scoresheet in the latter match is a minor data point, but it reinforces that Bologna are already stress-testing life without him as the primary threat.
Bologna have not stood still in the market. The club confirmed the signing of Mikel Amondarain from Argentina for over ten million euros, reinforcing the midfield — a move that reads less like squad-building and more like structural preparation for a reshaped attack. If Castro departs, Italiano inherits a different forward line, and the Amondarain acquisition suggests the club is already engineering around that eventuality.
Whether the counter-offer of Dovbyk or Vaz suits Bologna's needs will determine how quickly this resolves. Castro, for his part, has done enough across 34 Serie A appearances to earn the move; the question now is whether the clubs can agree on the mechanism.