Jose Mourinho is entering his dangerous territory called the third season. The Portuguese struggled in his third year pretty much anywhere he's been to before.
However, the way AS Roma are signing new players suggests Mourinho could actually survive it and maybe even win something.
The Europa League finalists have updated half of their starting XI while keeping hold of Paulo Dybala.
And the best of it is that they have barely spent any money on transfers. Their transfer policy revolves around signing free agents or loaning players in.
Thus, they have snapped up Evan Ndicka and Houssam Aouar on a free, and loaned Rasmus Kristensen and Renato Sanches in. The only player they spent money on is Leandro Paredes: the World Cup champions arrived for around €4m from Paris Saint-Germain.
On paper, these are all quality additions. Ndicka is an absolute banger of a centre-back and the likes of Sanches and Aouar would hope to reboot their careers under Mourinho — their talent is doubtless.
So here's Jose Mourinho's likely XI for this season: Patricio, Ndicka, Smalling, Llorente, Cristante, Paredes, Renato Sanches, Zalewski, Kristensen, Aouar, Dybala, Belotti.
The only glaring hole in this squad is the centre forward. Tammy Abraham is injured and could miss up to nine months. Andrea Belotti will most likely play up front in his absence unless Roma sign someone.
Belotti was once seen as the next Italian super striker but based on the last season and the last few years in general, he's not fit to lead the frontline. In 31 Serie A games last season, Belotti didn't score even once.
The lack of a proper centre forward is so obvious it has become a meme at Roma's training ground. Jose even posed for a picture with an 'imaginary striker':
"Regarding the imaginary striker, I can tell you even if Mbappe arrives next week, it'd still be late," Mourinho said earlier this month.
"After Tammy's injury we are in a situation that no coach in the world wants to be in. It's impossible for me to say that I'm happy. But to say that I'm in open war with the club is very wrong."
Serie A kicks off for Roma on Sunday 20 August with a home clash against Salernitana. They will also play in the Europa League this season.
Do you expect Jose Mourinho to help Roma to glory this season or will he get sacked?
