Former Roma sporting director Gianluca Petrachi revealed he had a difficult time as a player at Nottingham Forest. ‘They called me an Italian mafia member’.
The ex-Roma director revealed he didn’t speak much with former patron James Pallotta, as he didn’t speak English, and explained he didn’t have many good memories from his time in England either.
Former Roma sporting director Gianluca Petrachi revealed he had a difficult time as a player at Nottingham Forest. ‘They called me an Italian mafia member’.
The ex-Roma director revealed he didn’t speak much with former patron James Pallotta, as he didn’t speak English, and explained he didn’t have many good memories from his time in England either.
Petrachi, who moved to Forest from Perugia in July 1999, was one of three Italians at the City Ground when David Platt was in charge, but he lasted only one season in England and appeared only 15 times for the Reds.
“I don’t speak English,” he told Il Corriere dello Sport in a long interview.
“I’m lazy, but then I don’t have a good memory of my time in England.
“I was injured, and they thought I was bluffing. They called me an ‘Italian mafia member’. There was racism, but speaking Italian was a matter of pride for me.”