The hopeful anticipation of Sir Claudio and the fans of the Golden-Red team is for Mats to stay as long as possible, to restore Roma to its former glory both in the championship and in Europe.

He is not a striker, he does not often score, and his name is not shouted out by the 60,000 fans at the Olympic Stadium, but when he is on the field, it is almost impossible to find a player with a greater impact. In the last five matches – against Lecce, Braga, Como, Sampdoria, and Parma – Roma conceded goals only from penalties or when he was not present. “And I just didn’t have them in Como,” Ranieri stated in a press conference following the win against Parma. Mats is fundamental both in terms of character and substance: 92. With a 7% accuracy in passes (because the German is essential as a playmaker too), slightly more than 8 duels won per match (82.4%!), 2.6 interceptions, and 5.2 recoveries. His skill with the ball allows Roma to get out of trouble much more easily, and alongside Ndicka, they form one of the best defensive duos in Europe (with a combined pass accuracy of 93.5%, in Italy only Acerbi and De Vrij do better). N/A Mats has not yet lost a ball after 313 minutes of Serie A. But beyond all the statistical data, Hummels gives security and confidence to his sector companions and everyone else with his ataraxia, a tranquility that distinguishes him and that on the field extends to the other 10. A detachment interspersed with some calls to Mancini and Ndicka to shorten or push up the line, and that was only broken during the goal against Tottenham – a sporting liberation for him and for the “giallorossi”. “The identity card might recently bear the number “36” under “age”, but if the performances are still very much ‘Champions League’ level, why deprive ourselves of such a player?”

Federico Liuti