Roma's €25m Teen Prodigy Robinio Vaz: Future Star or Expensive Sub?

Imagine shelling out €25 million (£21.5m) for an 18-year-old French kid who's barely kicked a ball in Serie A. That's Roma's winter punt on Robinio Vaz from Marseille back in January. At the time, it looked like a masterstroke – only Lamine Yamal had notched four goals in Europe's top five leagues that season among players younger than him. Fast forward two months, and the lad's still waiting for his first start under Gian Piero Gasperini. Blimey, what gives?

From Paris Streets to Sochaux Spotlight

Vaz hails from Mantes-la-Jolie, a gritty Paris suburb that also spat out Arsenal's old boy Nicolas Pepe. Street football toughened him up – inter-neighbourhood scraps with crowds watching, no pressure there then! He bossed it locally before Sochaux snapped him up in 2022 at just 16.

By then, he was already turning out for their reserves in France's fifth tier. But with his contract ticking down to 2025 and Sochaux skint, they flogged him and mate Alexandre Issanga to Marseille for peanuts – about €400,000 combined in summer 2024. Bargain bin gold, or so it seemed.

Marseille Breakthrough: De Zerbi's Golden Boy

Straight into Marseille's B team, Vaz shone as a central runner, not a winger. Coach Jean-Pierre Papin – yeah, that legend – saw his pace and knack for stretching defences. Senior gaffer Roberto De Zerbi gave him a Ligue 1 debut sub appearance against Strasbourg in January 2025, and the kid won a pen for Mason Greenwood to nab a draw.

De Zerbi loved it: 'He brings energy, born in 2007, we'll manage him right.' Vaz bagged his first OM goal in a 5-2 thrashing of Paris FC, assisted in a 3-0 at Metz, then went mad – goal and assist vs Le Havre, and a brace (youngest in 78 years!) in a 2-2 draw with Angers. De Zerbi gushed he wasn't for flipping to England. So why cash in on him mid-season?

Reports from L'Equipe say Marseille offered six times his €120,000 salary but balked at his demands. Roma matched the €25m ask, and even De Zerbi waved him off: 'He shut down after impacting us – average training. Kid from the banlieue deserves success.'

Roma Rollercoaster: Patience or Peril?

Italy's hit different. Just 170 minutes off the bench in eight cameos. Fans and pundits scratching heads over the fee, but Gasperini – ex-Atalanta wizard – urges calm. 'Big investment weighs on him at that age,' he says. 'Serie A's tough mid-season. We're assessing him bit by bit.'

A Marseille insider told La Provence last year Vaz was Europe's top 2007-born talent: 'Fast, powerful, fearless, tech sharpening weekly.' Before Velodrome vibes soured, he was the Big Five leagues' youngest scorer menace. Echoes of Victor Osimhen?

Is this a costly misfire on a moody teen, or Roma unearthing Napoli's next marksman? Gasperini's brewing something – Vaz's raw attributes scream potential. But with Stadio Olimpico waiting, that first start can't come soon enough. Keep eyes peeled; this could be the transfer tale of the season, or a pub quiz footnote.

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