After the loan of Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku expired, AS Roma were on the lookout for another striker. And they found what they were looking for: Artem Dovbyk arrives from La Liga surprise club Girona.
Artem Dovbyk recently began his preparations for the upcoming La Liga season with FC Girona. But now, despite having a current contract until June 30, 2028, the goalscorer said goodbye and boarded a plane to Rome.
And there in the “Eternal City” with Roma, this deal can certainly be celebrated as a coup. After all, Dovbyk, who is also Ukraine’s European Championship player this year (without scoring in three games in the group stage), had only come to Girona a year ago from Ukrainian club SC Dnipro-1, where he scored an impressive 24 goals in 36 first division games
Dzeko, Abraham, Lukaku, Dovbyk
The 1.89-metre attacker also helped the Spanish surprise club secure a Champions League ticket behind champions Real Madrid, runners-up FC Barcelona and ahead of Atletico Madrid.
For the Giallorossi, coached by Daniele de Rossi, the Dovbyk transfer, which according to Sky Sport Italia costs 30.5 million euros plus bonuses up to a maximum of a further 5.5 million euros and earns the 27-year-old a five-year contract valid until 2029, is a real coup – especially as Atletico Madrid were also after Dovbyk and, according to media reports, had even offered more money. But Dovbyk only wanted to go to Rome. There he now has the shirt number 11
Following the departure of Edin Dzeko to Inter in 2021 (now Fenerbahce) and the lengthy injury to Tammy Abraham in the previous Serie A season, Roma had made do with Chelsea loanee Romelu Lukaku. However, the Belgian striker (13 goals in 32 league games) is now on his way to Naples as part of a swap deal that is also said to include Victor Osimhen.
Dovbyk is now set to take over the legacy and, in the best-case scenario, fire the capital city into at least the Champions League with a healthy Paulo Dybala. The Ukrainian has now swapped the Champions League for Roma, as AS only play in the Europa League
