Artem Dovbyk explains why he was so determined to join Roma, as speaking to Daniele De Rossi and the Friedkin family made him ‘believe in this project’ rather than other offers.
The transfer was finally completed this afternoon, as he left Girona FC for €30.5m plus another €5.5m in add-ons and a 10 per cent cut of the future transfer fee.
There is believed to be a limit on the total sum so it cannot go beyond €38.5m.
“I am very happy, finally it’s happened. I can’t wait to see my first day in the team,” Dovbyk told the official Roma website.
He revealed that patrons Dan and Ryan Friedkin had a very special, personal role in the negotiations.
“I spoke with Dan and Ryan, I had never spoken to the President before in a transfer. All this convinced me to come here. Roma is one of the best clubs in Italy and I believe in this project, so I hope we can do something interesting this season.”
The fans also helped influence the player with “some funny and some very serious” videos on social media.
As top scorer in LaLiga during his debut season with 24 goals and eight assists in 36 games, the 27-year-old had been expected to join a Champions League club and Atletico Madrid made a firm offer to sign him.
However, he was determined to join the Giallorossi and reportedly even accepted a €1.5m cut to push the move through.
“Last season was amazing for me and for Girona, it’s the first time in history that Girona play in the Champions League. I will miss the team, but I need to do the next step.
“It’s a different club, Girona is a small club in Spain, whereas Roma is a very big club with a lot of history. I know there is big pressure on me, but football without pressure is not football.”
The role of Pichichi – the Spanish version of Capocannoniere – in LaLiga is a rare one, as in recent years it had been dominated by Lionel Messi, Karim Benzema and Robert Lewandowski, until the giant Ukrainian came along.
“It’s an amazing feeling because it never happened before. I want to say thank you to my teammates, because they created a lot of chances for me and it is my job to score a lot of goals. It was an amazing feeling.
“It’s an honour and a responsibility for me, I want to play my best football in Italy.”
His new teammates include Argentina internationals Paulo Dybala and Matias Soulé, so they ought to provide plenty of service.
“These are top players, everyone knows they are very skilled and I hope these players can create a lot of chances for me and I score many goals,” added Dovbyk.
“I spoke to Daniele De Rossi, he explained the tactical game, the club and after this dialogue I had a good emotion. It is also why I made this choice.”
Somewhat inevitably, when asked for his football idol, Dovbyk looked to another Ukrainian who was a legend in Italy for Milan.
“I would say Andriy Shevchenko, as he is Ukrainian, our best player, and also played in Italy. He’s the best player from Ukraine.”
It is still pre-season, but Dovbyk is looking forward to his first experience at the Stadio Olimpico.
“It’s an amazing stadium, I watched many games there, 70,000 fans is amazing for any player. I visited Rome once, but didn’t see anything as it was during Coronavirus. I want to see it now.”