Roma sporting director Monchi is “happy with what we’ve done” on the transfer market, and says there’s still time for players to leave.
The Giallorossi have completed a €30m deal for Steven Nzonzi of Sevilla, who was officially presented this afternoon.
“We’re here to present a world champion, a great player,” Monchi pointed out in the Press conference.
Roma sporting director Monchi is “happy with what we’ve done” on the transfer market, and says there’s still time for players to leave.
The Giallorossi have completed a €30m deal for Steven Nzonzi of Sevilla, who was officially presented this afternoon.
“We’re here to present a world champion, a great player,” Monchi pointed out in the Press conference.
“The market for incomings ends tomorrow, but for exits it will remain open. I’m happy with what we’ve done, even if I’m always convinced we can do better.
“We did what we wanted, we moved quickly at the start to have the squad straight away, then we continued to monitor the market for opportunities. I’m happy, even if you can always do better.
“Maxime Gonalons? He’s a Roma player, and I only have good things to say about him. It’s true though that with Nzonzi’s arrival there’s more competition and I’ll have to talk to him.
“There’s no rush though, the market for outgoings doesn’t close tomorrow.
“We did what we thought was right to do and built as strong a team as possible. We also made money, we didn’t just spend it.
“The balance is more or less equal, sometimes people say that Roma only sell players but that’s not how it is.
“We have the ambition and a plan to take Roma as high as possible.
“This is my second summer transfer window and I’ve never had a no from the club. Sometimes I’ve had to spend a minute, an hour or a day to convince the President [James Pallotta], but I’ve always had the freedom.
“The season will say whether we were right or not, and that will be my responsibility, but the club has always been willing to invest.”
Monchi promised to get an even better player when Barcelona hijacked their move for Malcom.
“Nzonzi is stronger, I didn’t say I’d get a player in the same role. Once the first phase of our transfer campaign ended we worked to improve the squad rather than looking at a specific role.
“Malcom was a possibility because he’s a strong player and financially it was doable. We continued to work, looking for players in the same role and not, then Nzonzi arrived.
“Ten days ago it seemed to be a financially impossible deal. Then, because of his desire to come and the availability of his father-agent, as well as the effort by the club, we had the chance to get him.
“Malcom is strong, but he is too.”
This is the second time the former goalkeeper has signed Nzonzi, as he also took him to Sevilla.
“It means he’s a good player,” Monchi explained.
“I know what he can do for the team and with the players we have he’ll become even stronger, with the chance to play and train with [Daniele] De Rossi, [Bryan] Cristante, [Javier] Pastore and [Edin] Dzeko.
“His age? I’ve always worked like this, you’re forgetting all the young players we signed. We can’t only sign young people because they need time and there’s everything at Roma except time.
“The way we work is to take young players, but also fully formed players because we need results right away.
“Of the 10 players we’ve signed, six are young, two are in the middle and two are a bit more experienced.”
Two of those youngsters are Ante Coric and Nicolò Zaniolo, will they be loaned out?
“We’ve been really surprised by both of them. The doubt with a new signing is seeing whether he confirms the level seen at the club he came from, and we’re satisfied with both of them.
“We have a lot of players in that role, it’s true, and we need to evaluate the possibility of finding a club in Serie A to allow the player to make a step forward, especially in regard to Zaniolo.
“He might already be ready for Serie A.”