Bologna have turned down a €30 million offer from Everton for Jonathan Rowe, the 23-year-old forward, and declared him unavailable for transfer this summer — a firm statement of intent from a club simultaneously navigating significant movement across its squad.
The decision matters because Rowe is not simply a retained asset; he is increasingly the thread of continuity in an attack being rebuilt around him. Bologna have sold Santiago Castro to Roma and are pursuing Roberto Piccoli as a replacement centre-forward, while Artem Dovbyk arrives from Roma heading in the opposite direction. Ervin Lucumí remains the subject of ongoing negotiations with Juventus. In that context, holding Rowe becomes less a commercial calculation and more a structural one — Vincenzo Italiano's Bologna need at least one established attacking reference point while the new pieces settle.
The numbers from 2025-26 give that decision a rational foundation. Rowe contributed three goals and two assists across 27 Serie A appearances, carrying an average rating of 6.80 — modest in isolation, but meaningful for a wide forward operating in a side that finished eighth with 46 goals scored across 37 matches. Bologna were not a high-volume attacking team; Rowe's output reflected the system's constraints as much as his own ceiling.
His AI overall score of 71 out of 100, with a projected potential of 78, suggests the club's data picture aligns with the coaching staff's patience. There is room to grow, and the arrival of Dovbyk — a physical, penalty-box striker — could alter the service Rowe receives, potentially freeing him to operate in the half-spaces he uses most effectively rather than carrying the weight of central attacking responsibility.
Everton's €30 million valuation is not an insult. For a 23-year-old with Rowe's profile, it is a credible market price. Bologna's rejection signals they believe the ceiling is higher, or at minimum that selling now — mid-rebuild, with Castro gone and the forward line in flux — would leave Italiano short of options before a replacement of equivalent quality could be sourced.
Rowe enters the new season as the attack's anchor. That is both an opportunity and a test.