AS Roma sign Jonathan Silva in place of Emerson Palmieri

AS Roma have recruited the services of Jonathan Silva on an initial loan deal from Portuguese side Sporting. The Argentine is likely to occupy the back-up role which was left behind by the departure of Emerson Palmieri earlier this week. Speaking on the club's official website, Silva said: "I am very happy to have arrived in Rome, for me it is incredible. I am very motivated. I want to contribute to this great group of players.''

The Giallorossi will have the option to make the deal permanent at the end of the campaign, and sporting director Monchi suggested that the player's personality as well as quality played a role in the move, he said: "He is a young player who has already demonstrated personality and quality, characteristics that allowed him to play in an important club like Sporting."

Roma had initially faced the prospect of losing both Palmieri and Edin Dzeko during the final week of the transfer window, but they managed to hold onto the latter after the failure to negotiate personal terms with Chelsea. The Bosnian was actually after a two-and-a-half year deal with the Premier League holders, but the Blues could only offer him an 18 -month contract.

The Giallorossi have lost their momentum over the past month or so, and they are now facing a tricky challenge for the top-four positions with Inter Milan and Lazio in the mix. Roma also have a testing challenge versus Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League, but they will hope to find a winning pattern ahead of the first-leg later this month.

Roma are currently in a rut in the Serie A with no victories in the last seven Serie A outings, but they will nevertheless go into the upcoming fixtures versus Hellas Verona and Benevento with a sense of optimism given the pair are presently in the drop zone.