Walter Sabatini advised Roma to keep “best midfielder in Europe” Radja Nainggolan and bragged about selling Gervinho to China for €18m.
The former director of sport, who left the club in October 2016, answered questions from students at a university lecture in Rome today.
You can read the rest of his comments on Luciano Spalletti and Monchi here.
Walter Sabatini advised Roma to keep “best midfielder in Europe” Radja Nainggolan and bragged about selling Gervinho to China for €18m.
The former director of sport, who left the club in October 2016, answered questions from students at a university lecture in Rome today.
You can read the rest of his comments on Luciano Spalletti and Monchi here.
“Roma needed to sell Medhi Benatia for €30m and sign Kostas Manolas for €13m,” insisted Sabatini.
“Only fragmented stories emerge, but when players do badly they don’t come to us asking to cut their salary, yet if they play well they become out of control.
“Regardless of the economic strength of Roma, the rapport between costs and revenue has to be kept in mind at all times.”
Currently the Giallorossi are considering the possibility of parting with Nainggolan for huge Premier League money.
“Roma shouldn’t sell Nainggolan and I hope they don’t want to, but what lowers his price-tag is his age. He’d be a crazy investment now and probably not a wise one, but there’s no denying he’s the best midfielder in Europe.”
Sabatini positively bragged about his ability to sell striker Gervinho to Chinese club Hebei China Fortune.
“Now the Chinese Government has set in place limitations on crazy buys, but I am super happy about their involvement in football. I got €18m for Gervinho. I kept the Chinese representatives in (Roma training ground) Trigoria for three days, because if they had left there others would’ve convinced them to forget the deal.
“The sale that hurt me the most was Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa. He is an extraordinary lad, but a contradictory player. He’d make a great first touch in the box and nutmeg his opponent, then throw the ball away. He scored us a goal in the derby worth €30m (to enter the Champions League).
“I had the chance to sell him for the same price that I bought him for, so I called him in to give the news. I’ve never suffered so much under the glare of a player. Those 10 minutes killed me.”
Sabatini defended himself when it came to the purchase of expensive flops like Seydou Doumbia, Gerson and Juan Manuel Iturbe.
“Doumbia is a great player. What ruined him was underestimating the disastrous condition he was in after the Africa Cup of Nations. I could’ve scored the goal against Parma too… Nobody remembers that he did score against Sassuolo and Genoa too. It went badly and that was also my responsibility.
“If Roma were to think Gerson was a flop, I’d take him to my next club. He is a bit shy, but still young and wasn’t given a very delicate welcome to Serie A. When you evaluate hundreds of players, mistakes can happen.
“Iturbe is an excellent player who has done badly. It was my mistake to sign him at those conditions. Iturbe was sought-after and I wanted to give a signal of Roma’s strength, putting my club on a pedestal. I wanted Roma to be considered on an international level.
“The same is true when I came here, not yet as director of sport, and got Erik Lamela. He was about to be signed by a different Italian club.”
Finally, Sabatini was asked about the decision to take down the barriers dividing the Curva in the Stadio Olimpico, which prompted a fan boycott.
“You have no idea how much Roma were damaged by the absence of the ultras. Everyone in football must work to make the people happy, there is nothing else. It’s a concept that not all the Presidents I worked with fully understood.”