Spezia coach Luca Gotti admits he ‘cannot be happy’ seeing Jakub Kiwior undergo his Arsenal medical, especially after M’Bala Nzola was ruled out of the game against Roma.
It kicks off at the Stadio Picco on Sunday at 17.00 GMT.
Poland international defender Kiwior is not in the squad, as he landed in London this morning to complete his transfer to Arsenal.
Gotti was asked if he felt proud to see the Spezia player move on to a new phase of his career with the Premier League leaders in a deal believed to be worth over €20m including add-ons.
“This is football, we have to be ready to deal with any situation,” said the coach in his press conference.
“I am very happy for Kiwior and this opportunity he created for himself. It is also the biggest sale in Spezia’s history and I imagine the club is happy with that too.
“However, I cannot be happy with it. There are coaches who constantly complain and ask for reinforcements, that is not me, but I am often in a situation where my clubs sell at a big profit. That doesn’t mean the players who arrive to replace them are worse, they are merely less ready to deliver.
“It is frustrating for a coach, as when you work to build them up, you then don’t get to enjoy the fruits of your labour, as they are sold and you press the reset button.”
Kiwior turns 23 next month and was purchased from MSK Zilina in the summer of 2021 for just €2.2m, doing enough in Serie A to earn himself a place in Poland’s World Cup squad in Qatar.
To make matters worse going into the game against Jose Mourinho’s Roma, Spezia have also lost striker Nzola to injury in the most recent training session.
“Roma are very dangerous on set plays and have enormous quality on the counter-attack. They scored 12 goals in the final half-hour, seven in the closing minutes, and so we need to think about who starts the game, but also who finishes it.”
That does not mean Spezia are going to be content with a draw against Roma, though.
“We must go out there to get points. Spezia cannot be happy with an honourable defeat.”