Solbakken in the group since January 1st, on the 4th the first time at the Olimpico

There are still four days to go before the official start of Ola Solbakken’s adventure with the Roma shirt. For over a month, the Norwegian has felt like a Giallorossi player – it was made official last November 23rd – but until December 31st he will be forced to train away from Trigoria. The diplomatic work put in place towards Bodo Glimt by the attacker’s entourage was of no use: in fact, there is bad blood between the Friedkin club and the gialloneri and, despite Solbakken’s requests, the Norwegians have never granted him the green light to start working under José Mourinho’s orders before the expiry of his old contract (it will end on December 31st). This means that, before the championship resumes, the Giallorossi number 18 will only train three times with his new teammates. Just the time to take measures with the game mechanisms of the Special One. Even if he will hardly take the field against Bologna – at least from the 1st minute – January 4th will still be a very important date for him: that of his first match as a Roma player at the Olimpico. A stadium that, for now, he has only known as an opponent (being impressed by the passion of the fans).

Roadmap

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In these days Solbakken is following a personalized program, studied together with the trainers of Fulvio Bernardini. In the last three weeks, the striker has been working every day, both in the luxurious resort of Tulum in Mexico, where he spent a few days on vacation with his boyfriend Thea, and in Norway. During the holidays he alternated moments with his family with some training sessions at the Ladeklinikken physiotherapy center (documented by a post published on Instagram). From 1 January, on the other hand, he will finally be at the complete disposal of Special One who, thanks to the latest gift from GM Tiago Pinto, will be able to count on a new reinforcement in attack. A precious pawn, above all for the Portuguese coach’s way of playing: in fact, in his career Solbakken has played almost only as a winger behind a reference centre-forward. Exactly what he’s going to do in the Capital, behind Tammy Abraham. The 24-year-old can play on both flanks, serving valuable holes to his team mates. All without ever losing sight of the door. Last season’s balance sheet – the one that allowed him to get noticed by Roma – is 11 goals and 9 assists. Now, however, he will have to compete with Serie A. Not a small change. However, Solbakken has already shown that he knows how to pierce the Italian defenses: it was Roma who paid the price – ironically – during the group stage of the Conference League.