Rebuilding a Fortitudo Soul. Here's Caja's First Real Challenge

Fortitude and a soul to rebuild: after the farewells of Riccardo Bolpin, Gerardo Sabatini e Peter Aradori, Effe is once again at a crossroads. Not just any crossroads: that of identity, which for a team that needs to be rebuilt from scratch, and with ambitions to be a champion, is a vital element. So, after a disastrous season that ended with disappointment in terms of promotion, the white-blue summer has opened with three departures that, beyond some well-known controversy (and the contradiction, given that the social networks were chosen by the outgoing players) seems like a chapter that is already closed and on which no controversy should be raised.

Bolpin-Sabatini-Aradori, a triptych of different souls, but all, in their own way, symbolic of a team that now needs to rebuild itself. Not only technically, but also spiritually. Certainly, especially if we put the last two seasons on the scale, with these farewells the white and blues lose a lot, points, assists (despite Sabatini having played little or nothing due to injury), solidity on the parquet. And so, if the 2025/2026 season really has to be the one of the category leap, we need to start again from a question: who will be the new heart of Fortitudo? The market It will be decisive.

The club knows that good players will not be enough, as they need strong personalities, capable of withstanding the unique pressures of the Bologna crowd (PalaDozza knows how to love enormously, but also burn those who do not understand its language) and a demanding and direct coach. For this reason, the new roster will have to have people capable of speaking that language made of struggle, pride and sacrifice that have always characterized the spirit of fortitudinità so much flaunted in the last twenty years, even inappropriately.

The technical guide of Attilio Caja remains a fixed point, but it will be called to build not only a game plan, but a new soul. And perhaps this will be the first, true test of Fortitudo 2025: finding itself even before the Serie A. With a group ready to become a family.

Putting aside the issue of identity, Effe embraces its new arrivals Alvise Sarto, Gianluca DellaRosa e Lorenzo Welcome, waiting to understand who will form the rest of the group. Some rumors say Andrea Zerini (perhaps destined for Avellino), someone else Luke Pollone (perhaps headed to Rimini), but there are also those who speak of Matteo Imbro, whose name has already appeared several times in recent years, but a profile that would conflict with the axis of directors Fantinelli-Rosa.

As of today, the guards are missing (an American and an Italian support), a small forward to support Sarto, the pair of power forwards (again USA plus Italy) and an Italian center to support Benvenuti. So there are still many slots to fill before the first Fortitudo meeting, but the thought that this could be the season of promotion without a strong character component, which did not show itself in the last championship, is so far from the vision of Caja and his partners. It is from there that most of the joys of the team that will take to the field will pass.