Sabatini: Pjanic sale final straw

By Football Italia staff

Walter Sabatini has hinted that Roma’s sale of Miralem Pjanic “made me realise I could no longer be sporting director” as Erik Lamela “killed” him.

Sabatini held a Press conference on Friday to announce the reasons behind the mutual termination of his Roma contract, and he appeared to accuse the Giallorossi of lacking ambition by allowing Juventus to activate Pjanic’s release clause and letting Lamela depart three years ago.

“Sometimes I was defined as cocky. I recently lost a player who’s now doing very well, he’s one of the reasons that I’ve left,” he said.

“I feel bad for this player, do some research and you’ll know who I mean. This incident was decisive and made me realise that I could no longer be the sporting director of Roma.

“It wasn’t easy to sell some players, especially Lamela. That deal killed me.

“I wanted to buy him to send a strong signal to all the other clubs, he wasn’t easy to buy, but we signed a magnificent player.

“Selling him was a huge pain, but this also applies to others. Suggestions for the mercato always came in, but I never listen. Perhaps only once in 20 years.

“The players have to realise that we missed out on the Champions League, it’s at the detriment of everyone so different assessments must be made.

“The contracts will eventually be reviewed by Baldissoni, but they’re not our priority. Now we need focus on the pitch, we want to do important things.

“Back to me, I left Roma because they changed some footballing rules. I want to play my football, but I found it hard to adapt myself to the new criteria.

“The President, with his associates, rightly point out other statistical points, while I live by instinct and imagination.

“The numbers can help, but sometimes they betray you. I believe in what I see when I notice a footballer.

“I don’t want to fight for different ideas. I’ve always had my idea of football and I don’t intend to change. At the moment, the club are working on something else.

“Sometimes I wake up during the night and think that some of the players you can sign, sometimes you sign them accidentally. And I think about poor Piris, who honestly wasn’t Roma quality.

“I don’t understand why the fans can’t become attached to Perotti, Salah or Dzeko, despite their criticism.

“Many players are strong, so perhaps [the fans] will grow exceedingly fond of Bruno Peres. I care about my players, I don’t see why the fans can’t.

“If I sell Benatia and buy Manolas, I don’t damage the team but I produce profits. Of course, there are risks, but I did so with the sole aim of not weakening the team.

“If I sell Ljajic, who I love, and go on with Perotti, well ... I think I did it to improve Roma.

“Some deals have been successful, others less so, but they’ve always been with one goal: for Roma to be competitive.

“Of course, we haven’t won anything, but we’ll always make life difficult for any team. I don’t think I caused damage [to Roma] in the mercato.

“The only flaw was continuity. Without this, we’ve been left disadvantaged.”

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