Following recent media speculation regarding Miralem Pjanic, AS Roma general manager Mauro Baldissoni appeared on Roma Radio this morning to read out the letter sent to the club in which the Bosnian midfielder states his intention to exercise a clause in his contract and move to Juventus FC.



“When professional boundaries are crossed we believe we have to intervene," Baldissoni told Roma Radio. "This morning we read yet more rubbish about the Pjanic affair, coming after reports over the last few days about whether or not there is even a clause. All this does is stir up ridiculous feuds within the city.



“Today we read about a personal message on WhatsApp, according to which it was Roma who contacted Juventus. Let's get one thing straight: In a normal world a club director should not have to come here and give a radio interview in order to deny something that is nonsense, yet sadly it has become necessary because of the violent atmosphere that has been created in the city.



“This is the letter AS Roma received:



Dear AS Roma SpA, for the attention of General Manager Mauro Baldissoni,



I herewith wish to inform you of my intention to exercise my right to be transferred to another club, as per our previous agreements.



I also wish to inform you that I will settle the 20% of the transfer fee that is due to me directly with the club purchasing my contract, which I can inform you is Juventus Football Club. I thank you and ask you to make contact in order to complete the necessary contractual formalities.



Yours sincerely,



Miralem Pjanic



“In this city we're forced to make public documents which are private and part of the normal working process in order to deny the nonsense we read in the newspapers. We do this not to defend ourselves, the club and those who work for the club – who are secondary – but to defend the Roma fans who are poisoned on a daily basis, in this case in an extremely malicious and dangerous way.



“One day we have to come out and say whether or not the boy has a clause or a financial right as part of that clause – a matter which should concern him and him alone – the next day we have to deny that the club actively sought to sell the player. All this because a whole host of sources are deemed more credible than an official statement by the club or those or work for the club.



“I spoke to the boy and he said, 'I never speak to journalists.' I told him to think carefully. Maybe, to try and defend himself from certain insults – because he has been insulted – he wrote to someone to try and get out of it. He told me that's not the case, although it may have happened.



“Something has got to change; we can't go on with this sort of atmosphere. You have such things as contractual agreements and they are perfectly normal. A player can choose not to renew his contract and leave on a free transfer. Pjanic could have done that two years ago when we renewed his contract and inserted this clause – on his request. We could have refused to do so just as he could have refused to extend his contract and we would have lost him for nothing.



"When two parties are negotiating they have the right to take up a certain position, so a player can choose not to renew and want to leave. It can happen that a player might leave on a free, it can happen that a player might want to insert a clause and exercise it and it can happen that a player might be involved in negotiations. It's all part of ordinary proceedings – but for it to then lead to insults and threats...



“It may even happen that a player says something to somebody, even though Miralem denied that was the case. That can happen but a private comment cannot be turned into something the way it was in the papers this morning.



“We have a press office which people should refer to if they want information, because the information could turn out to be untrue, as it was in this case.



“I'll say this again: It is absurd that I should have to come here with a document to demonstrate what has already been said.



“President Pallotta has come out and said in very good faith – showing you how transparent he is – that he didn't want to sell Pjanic, and that's true. But he's also said, recently as well, that it doesn't depend on us because Pjanic has a clause.



"Then when the player does actually leave – because you can legitimately make use of contractual agreements to move to another team – it's made out that the president has been telling lies. And the result is that we have to come here to deny it. That's just not normal.”