Roma have completed the signing of Santiago Castro from Bologna in a deal worth €35m plus up to €2m in add-ons, with Bologna keeping a 10% sell-on clause on any future sale. The 21-year-old Argentine striker has signed a five-year contract, keeping him at the Stadio Olimpico until 2031. The move was struck alongside a separate deal sending Roma forward Artem Dovbyk to Bologna on loan with an option to make the switch permanent, effectively swapping the two clubs' first-choice centre-forwards.
Roma had spent much of the summer chasing attacking reinforcements elsewhere, with moves for Mason Greenwood, Crysencio Summerville and Nicolo Tresoldi all falling through before they turned to Castro. Head coach Gian Piero Gasperini, who has taken Roma back into the Champions League, wanted a mobile, direct forward capable of leading the press and running the channels in the way his sides at Atalanta were built around. Castro fits that profile, and the move came together quickly once talks opened — the player has said the negotiation was short because he wanted to join from the first contact.
For Bologna, it's a significant financial win but a real loss on the pitch. Castro had been their first-choice striker since arriving from Velez Sarsfield for €13.2m in January 2024, so the club more than doubles its outlay on him. He was central to two strong Bologna campaigns under first Thiago Motta and then Vincenzo Italiano, including their run to Coppa Italia success. Losing their main centre-forward is a blow, though the loan arrival of Dovbyk gives them an experienced replacement who knows Serie A well, even if his own recent form has been affected by injury.
Castro's output dipped slightly in 2025-26 compared with the season before: seven goals and two assists in 35 Serie A appearances, plus two goals in 12 Europa League matches, for 11 goals and three assists in all competitions. That's down on his 2024-25 return, when he was Bologna's second-highest scorer, but he remained a regular starter and a focal point of the attack throughout, taking 63 shots in the league alone — evidence he was still getting into good scoring positions even when the finishing dried up slightly.
At Roma, Castro is expected to lead the line as Gasperini's central striker, with his hold-up play, work-rate off the ball and willingness to run in behind seen as a good match for the high-tempo, front-foot football the manager wants. Dovbyk's Roma career had been hampered by fitness problems, limiting him to 14 league appearances last season, so the swap gives both sides a fresher option up front. Castro has already spoken about wanting to make an impact quickly, including in Roma's derby fixtures against Lazio.
It's a big-money move for a player still only 21, and it puts real weight on Castro's shoulders as Roma's new central striker heading into a season that includes Champions League football.