Evan Ferguson: For Rome (and Ireland)

Being a Premier League wonderkid must be an exhausting life. Thrust into the media spotlight at a young age, you’re constantly faced with questions about your dream move and sandbagged with ridiculous comparisons to stars from days gone by.

There’s never a quiet moment and you can’t win. If you hit the big time, certain sections are desperate for you to fall, see Wayne Rooney. Should you not reach the heights expected of you aged sixteen? Forget about it.

Evan Ferguson’s time in England is a case study in itself and his loan transfer to Roma this summer could prove the change of scenery required to save his career.

The idea that a 20-year-old’s career is at the point of needing salvation is preposterous in itself, but it says a lot that people were getting excited when Ferguson scored four times in a friendly against Serie D side UniPomezia the day after he arrived in Italy’s capital.

For those in England, the focus on Ferguson in the past four years has been around his progression as a future Premier League star. 

His breakthrough at Brighton came at 18, four years after he first lined out for Bohemians in the League of Ireland and became the club’s youngest ever player. Scoring in the Premier League against Arsenal on New Year’s Eve 2022 was to be the start of a path that would eventually lead to Ferguson signing for Chelsea or Manchester United.

Ferguson scored six goals in both 2022/23 and 2023/24 seasons, but the latter ended with him damaging his anterior cruciate ligament and missing six months through injury.

The setback cost him his place in the Brighton team, limited to the odd substitute appearance under new coach Fabian Hürzeler. A loan to West Ham reunited him with his first Brighton coach Graham Potter, but again Ferguson remained a peripheral figure.

He now finds himself in the unique situation of being surplus to requirements at Brighton — hence the loan to Roma — but still considered enough of a prospect for them to demand €40m from the Serie A club should they wish to buy him.

Evan Ferguson leaving English football didn’t seem likely, despite his West Ham spell going sour. Perhaps we’re still conditioned to believe that the Premier League is the best in the world and nobody should want to leave, but Ballon d’Or nominee Scott McTominay might have something to say about that.

It’s strange to consider leaving Brighton for a club like Roma as the move that gets a player ‘out of the spotlight’, but it’s true in Ferguson’s circumstances.

Brighton leaned into the Ferguson hype and even released a thirteen-minute documentary with the cringey title: From Bohs to Men: The Remarkable Rise Of Evan Ferguson. He had just turned 19 and was less than fifty matches into his senior career. No pressure, kid.

English football media focuses on the individual, i.e. players and managers, while Italian football — fans more than media — is all about the devotion to the maglia (the shirt) and supporting the club, rather than any one person.

Neither approach is objectively correct, but Ferguson now finds himself in a position that should — I said should — suit him better. This is a new beginning, a chance to truly find his feet in professional football in a less helter-skelter environment.

The media coverage in Italy is slightly greater than the Premier League gets in England, but it’s more saturated, overly analytical and, at times, melodramatic. Shocker, right? It still feels like scrutiny of a different kind, less definitive. One bad match does not make a bad player, for example.

The most crucial advantage Ferguson has this season is the coach he gets to work with: Gian Piero Gasperini. The new Roma man arrives after nine years at Atalanta during which he took the club to previously unthinkable heights, including delivering the Europa League in 2024. 

Gasperini’s teams all had one thing in common: an attacker scoring goals at unprecedented levels in their career. Papu Gomez, Josip Ilicic, Luis Muriel, Duvan Zapata, Ademola Lookman and Mateo Retegui, to name a few. 

Charles De Ketelaere went from zero goals at Milan to hitting double figures in each of his first two seasons at Atalanta, while Gianluca Scamacca’s career looked to be rehabilitating before a devastating knee injury this time last year.

His work with attackers didn’t begin at Atalanta, however. Marco Borriello, Iago Falque and Leonardo Pavoletti had breakout seasons in his Genoa teams, while an already prolific Diego Milito got his move to Inter off the back of a 24 goal season that saw him win Capocannoniere, the award for Serie A’s top scorer, in 2009.

Ferguson spoke about Gasperini in his first interview with the club:

“Before signing for a club, you have to look at who the coach is and how he manages the team, and I think that at this stage of my career, Gasperini could be an excellent person to play for, to work with, and to learn from.

"He obviously has an excellent track record with strikers. I hope the same goes for me.”

Assuming that Ferguson has been well advised by his management, they will have seen Roma as the perfect opportunity to develop him under a coach like Gasperini. 

At the risk of reading much into pre-season, he did score in each of his first three matches, which might indicate that he’s settled in quickly and is enjoying life in a new environment.

Having the chance to play with Paulo Dybala will likely have influenced his decision too. Should Ferguson oust incumbent first choice striker Artem Dovbyk as some reports suggest, then he’ll have plenty of chances to recapture his form and get a taste for scoring goals.

More than any Gasperini project player, Ferguson’s situation could be best compared to De Ketelaere. The young Belgian attacker arrived at Atalanta in 2023 with his confidence in tatters after a tough debut season in Italy.

Milan spent more than £30m to take him from Club Brugge in 2022. De Ketelaere was only 21 and less than a hundred matches into his senior career. 

He struggled with his bit part role after Milan gave him a run of starts early in the season during which he produced little in front of goal. The pressure of wearing the Milan jersey arguably proved too much and, at Atalanta, De Ketelaere thrived with less expectation.

Roma are a much, much bigger club than Brighton in reality, but Ferguson and those around him will be hopeful that the set of circumstances laid out can work to his benefit.

Not only does Ferguson have the pressure of being a one-time Premier League wonderkid, but he carries the hopes of his nation on his shoulders. He was the bright hope, an international quality number nine to lead Ireland into future major tournaments and put an end to a decade of mediocrity.

Interest in Ferguson this season will go beyond the cursory intrigue from Premier League fans, as Irish supporters will likely find themselves more invested in Roma than they could ever have imagined.

Should Gasperini turn Ferguson into the goalscorer Ireland fans have dreamt of for years, then perhaps he might be the most popular man based in that part of the world since Pope John Paul II came to Ireland in 1979.

Likewise, Ferguson could become the most popular Irishman in Rome since…I don’t know, James Joyce? Give it six months and he'll be riding a Vespa while listening to Italo-disco, and scoring fifteen goals.

He’ll have divine help from the various folks in his native Bettystown who’ll be lighting candles and saying the rosary on his behalf, and who knows, he might even encourage a few to come out to see him play.

While this move is certainly not make or break for Ferguson, it’s time he started to show the football world what he’s capable of. To do so, perhaps he needed to spread his wings and leave the comforts of home, or at least one within touching distance of Ireland.

Not all roads lead to Rome these days, but Ferguson’s path has taken him to the Italian capital and into the caring guidance of Gian Piero Gasperini. What more could a young striker want?