New Signing Iago Falque Will Prove a Valuable Addition to Roma's Forward Line

Roma recently signed Andrea Bertolacci from Genoa only to flip him on for a profit, selling him almost instantaneously to AC Milan. However, another Genoa player they signed on Wednesday—Iago Falque—is worth keeping hold of.

According to an announcement on the club's official website, Roma have signed Falque on an initial one-year loan deal for a fee of €1 million with a commitment to buy him permanently for €7 million once he has made one competitive appearance. Falque's contract will last until June 30, 2020.

Falque joins Roma hot off the back of his best-ever season. He scored 13 goals in 32 Serie A appearances for Gian Piero Gasperini’s adventurous side as they challenged for a Europa League spot only to be thwarted by off-pitch issues.

There is no doubt that the short Spaniard with a delicate left foot is a classy addition, but how exactly will he fit in?

Roma’s transfer policy has been punctuated by bad decisions of late. In January, they brought in Seydou Doumbia for £10.8 million (per the BBC) and Victor Ibarbo on loan, though both had injury problems and struggled to fit in.

Given these transfer market failings, Roma would have been wise to take precaution before making any further acquisitions to their attack, though with the signing of Falque, it is clear they have undertaken due diligence.

Falque will have plenty of competition to fight off if he is to earn a starting spot at the Stadio Olimpico. As a left footed right-winger with a tendency to cut inside on to his stronger foot, he is very similar to another player Roma already have in their squad in Juan Iturbe.

Iturbe joined the club on the back of a stunning debut Serie A season with Hellas Verona but had difficulty establishing consistency and has yet to live up to the hefty €22 million price tag paid to sign him.

Along with Iturbe, Adem Ljajic and Gervinho have often been used as Roma wide men in Rudi Garcia’s favoured 4-3-3 system. The latter’s pace and dribbling ability made him an integral component in the front three, although he recently came very close to joining Al-Jazira, per the Telegraph. Ljajic, on the other hand, is less direct and less athletic but more technical and tends to feature on the left-hand side.

Comparing the four players’ 2014-15 season statistics via Squawka yields interesting results.

In his buildup play, Falque was behind only Ljajic, with more passes per 90 minutes and a higher rate of pass completion than either Iturbe or Gervinho. He also played more key passes and created more chances than all of them bar Ljajic, while only Gervinho obtained more assists.

In the final third, Falque also proved himself to be a relatively clinical player. He attempted more shots, had greater shot accuracy and scored more goals per 90 minutes than any of Iturbe, Ljajic or Gervinho.

The only real area of concern comes in his dribbling success rate; he completed fewer than one attempt at beating an opponent every 90 minutes. This pales in comparison to Gervinho’s 3.41 attempts, Iturbe’s 3.23 and even Ljajic’s 1.56. However, the relevant stylistic differences must be noted here. While Gervinho and Iturbe like to run at their opposite men, Falque is far similar to Ljajic in the sense that their strengths are combination play, off-ball movement and control in tight spaces.

Valerio Pennicino/Getty Images

Overall, Falque’s passing statistics indicate he is a player more than capable of fitting into Roma coach Garcia’s philosophy of short passing, patient football and interchanging attacking play.

His finishing numbers are even more promising, as they paint him as someone who may add greater incision and cutting edge to a team that looked staid in the final third at times last season; despite their finishing second in Serie A, seven teams scored more.

After taking time to settle down following his move from Tottenham Hotspur, Falque began to relish playing in Genoa’s three-man forward line last season. Operating on the right, he at times dovetailed with a false nine in Diego Perotti, though also played well alongside out-and-out centre-forwards Marco Borriello and Leonardo Pavoletti.

Roma have generally preferred to use Francesco Totti as a false nine in a front three similar to that used by Genoa in recent seasons, though rumours linking the club with a move for Edin Dzeko (per Julian De Martinis of ESPNFC.com), as well as their January signing of Doumbia, hint at a potential modification afoot, with Totti perhaps making way for a centre-forward.

Either way, as proven at Genoa, Falque can be effective in both attacking setups.

He will have to fight for his place, but all things considered, Falque should prove a valuable addition to Roma’s squad. After years of bouncing from club to club in search of regular football, he finally found it emphatically last season with Genoa, and that form can continue in Rome.