Inter midfielder Radja Nainggolan bitterly criticised former Roma director Monchi and shrugged off Nicolò Zaniolo comparisons. “It’s easy to have one good season.”
The Belgian has said before that his disagreement with then-director of sport Monchi – who has since returned to Sevilla – prompted him to leave the Capital.
Inter midfielder Radja Nainggolan bitterly criticised former Roma director Monchi and shrugged off Nicolò Zaniolo comparisons. “It’s easy to have one good season.”
The Belgian has said before that his disagreement with then-director of sport Monchi – who has since returned to Sevilla – prompted him to leave the Capital.
“I had a very open rapport with him. He’d often call in six or seven most representative players and we’d all together talk about what was best for the club and the squad,” Nainggolan told the Corriere dello Sport newspaper.
“I felt important to the club. Then, I found out some of the things he’d been saying about me and I didn’t appreciate those… Just three days after he left Roma, the club he claimed to be in love with, he already had a deal for his return to Sevilla. That tells you a lot…
“Without Monchi, I could in theory have still been at Roma, or perhaps at another club anyway, because it’s possible Roma wanted to send me elsewhere.
“I chose my own destination because Luciano Spalletti pushed to have me and Inter represented the right decision.”
The midfielder moved to San Siro over the summer in exchange for cash plus teenager Zaniolo, who until then had never played in Serie A.
Within a few months, Zaniolo has become a regular in the Giallorossi line-up and made his senior Italy debut.
Nainggolan was asked if he was irritated by those claiming Roma got the better of that transfer?
“It’s not a problem for me, because everyone has his career path. I played for 10 years at a high level, nine of them very good and this season just ok.
“Zaniolo has played 20 Serie A games, 18 of them good… It’s only normal that they speak highly of young players, as nowadays they are given everything on a silver platter, whereas before you had to work a lot harder, even just to get into Serie B.
“I am happy for him and wish him all the best, as I am not envious of anybody. I just think about my own career and that’s it. It’s easy to have one good season, we’ll see in 10 years…”