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The AS club currently in 7th place in Serie A has announced that the team's forward will not receive playing time until he signs a new contract, as his current agreement expires in the summer of 2006.
The talented Cassano has recently recovered from an injury, but has not been cleared to play in Roma's matches. The coach of the capital's club, Luciano Spalletti, expressed his desire for Cassano to represent the team in the next match against Siena, but the club's officials strongly object to this.
A few weeks ago, the player was close to signing a new four-year contract worth 3.2 million euros, but for unknown reasons he has not done so yet, so the team has issued an ultimatum stating that he must sit on the bench until he signs the proposed contract.
Roma's management hopes that Cassano will ultimately agree to the new contract and assures that they do not intend to improve the terms further. Meanwhile, the Italian champions Juventus, interested in the forward, admitted that they missed the opportunity to acquire the player in the summer, but according to the Italian press, he should move to Fabio Capello's team after the end of the season.
