Rick Karsdorp and AS Roma have reached a point of no return. The Dutch defender is now officially excluded from the club’s squad list submitted to Serie A, marking a significant break from the team. It seems the relationship has soured to the extent that Karsdorp and Roma are like two strangers waiting at a bus stop for a bus that may never come.
Club legend Daniele De Rossi, alongside Roma’s management, has reportedly concluded that there is no chance for Karsdorp to return to the first team. The player has turned down several offers, most notably from AEK Athens and Besiktas, which has only added to the frustration within the club. They anticipated shedding his hefty salary of approximately €2.3 million, a cost that is becoming increasingly unjustified given Karsdorp’s situation.
The conflict traces back to an incident in the Europa League match against Bayer Leverkusen. Karsdorp’s glaring mistake led to a goal for the Germans, earning him a chorus of boos when he was substituted. Instead of acknowledging the support, Karsdorp responded with sarcastic applause before storming off to the locker room without watching the rest of the match. Since that moment, he has not featured for Roma, and coach José Mourinho had already sidelined him in November 2022, labeling him a “traitor.”
Come June, the club officially decided to keep him out of the first team while allowing him to train alone with a fitness coach. Now, with his contract lasting until 2025, Karsdorp faces a dilemma: remain sidelined for another year and leave for free next June, or accept the move to Turkey, where the door remains slightly open for negotiations.
Roma, meanwhile, appears ready to move on without him. They are reportedly preparing to sign Saud Abdulhamid, a promising young defender from Al-Hilal, who is just waiting for a signal to join the team at Trigoria. It seems Karsdorp’s time at Roma is all but over as the club looks to build a brighter future without him.