Ferguson: 12 month drought, Celtic brace and recall rumours – What’s going on at Roma?

Official: Evan Ferguson joins Roma on loan with an option to buy from Premier League side Brighton and Hove Albion (picture via www.asroma.com)

Evan Ferguson scored his first ever goals in European competition with a brace for Roma against Celtic in the Europa League on Thursday night, but it has not all been smooth sailing for the Brighton loanee in the Italian capital. 

From his year-long goal drought to rumours of a potential recall, here’s a look at how things have gone for him at the Stadio Olimpico and what the future might hold for the Republic of Ireland international. 

Why has Ferguson struggled for consistency at Roma? 

Ferguson joined Roma on loan with an option to buy, rumored to be for a fee in the region of €40m towards the end of the summer transfer window. 

This is his second consecutive loan stint away from Brighton after an underwhelming spell with West Ham in the second half of the 2024-25 season, during which he failed to score a single competitive goal. 

Roma, whose only other natural option at centre-forward is Artem Dovbyk, had been in dire need of attacking additions during the summer transfer window. 

Head coach Gian Piero Gasperini made that clear on several occasions: “This is no excuse; it’s just the reality, and we can’t be hypocrites. Take a look at who left and who is missing. It’s just counting,” he said after a pre-season friendly against Kaiserslautern over the summer, just a few weeks before the start of the Serie A season. 

In the end, Roma did make more additions before the close of the summer transfer window, Wesley, Daniele Ghilardi, Jan Ziolkowski and a loan deal for Kostas Tsimikas among them, but their only other attacking addition was Leon Bailey on loan from Aston Villa. Due to injury, the Jamaica international has only managed eight competitive appearances since joining Roma in August, only one of which was as a starter. 

This means that Ferguson and Dovbyk have been Gasperini’s only natural options at centre-forward this season. 

And with no clear first choice, Gasperini has often rotated his options at centre-forward, with Paulo Dybala, Tommaso Baldanzi and Matias Soule all having been tried in false nine roles at various stages of the 2025-26 season. 

It is easy to forget that Ferguson has only recently turned 21, and moving abroad, arriving late in the summer transfer window, and then having to adapt to a new culture, club, league, and style of play, and having the pressure of needing to bounce back after a tough 2024-25 season is not to be underestimated either. 

Could Ferguson’s recent goals be the turning point at Roma? 

Ferguson finally claimed his first competitive goal in Giallorossi colours on November 23, coming off the bench to grab Roma’s second in an eventual 3-1 win away against Cremonese in Serie A. 

This was his first competitive goal in over a year, dating back to Brighton’s 2-2 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League on October 26, 2024. 

The 21-year-old has since added a European brace to his personal tally for 2025-26, tucking away two very well taken finishes in the first half of a 3-0 Europa League win over Celtic on Thursday night. 

It wasn’t just his finishing, but his movement and overall centre-forward play that earned him rave reviews for his performance at Celtic Park. 

Football Italia expert Alfredo Pedullà agrees that Ferguson’s performance against Celtic could be the perfect springboard to revitalise his Roma career. 

What to make of the recall rumours? 

For several months already, outlets in Italy have suggested that Roma could potentially look to terminate Ferguson’s loan deal ahead of schedule given his previous struggle for goals and consistency at the Stadio Olimpico. 

Brighton head coach Fabian Hürzeler did not deny those rumours when he spoke at his pre-match press conference on Friday. 

“Evan is our player, that’s why he will always be an option,” he said. “Of course, now at the moment he is on loan but we follow him, we are pleased how he performed yesterday. Of course we all follow him, so definitely he might be an option.” 

“Evan Ferguson is a player for us and he is always an option”

Fabian Hurzeler discusses the possibility of recalling Evan Ferguson from his loan at Roma and how he hopes that Mohamed Salah ‘is not available’ for Brighton’s away trip against Liverpool 🔵 pic.twitter.com/5BNG3BgIrq

— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) December 12, 2025

So, it remains to be seen whether Ferguson will see out the rest of the 2025-26 campaign at the Stadio Olimpico, or whether he will return to Brighton, or perhaps be sent out on loan elsewhere. 

What is becoming clear is that the run-up to Christmas and the January transfer window will be pivotal. If the Irishman is able to add another couple of goals to his record before then, it starts to look like a completely different situation. 

And, if goals do start to become more of a regular occurrence, it begs the question, would Roma be able to find a guaranteed improvement, fit and ready to play, during the January transfer window with a tight budget and financial fair play regulations still to adhere to? It would certainly take quite the pull from Gasperini and Ricky Massara.