Ervin Zukanovic is glad to have signed for Roma and put “a stressful two days” behind him. “I grew up with Edin Dzeko.”
The defender left Sampdoria on loan with option to buy for a total €4m, though he had been on the verge of joining VfB Stuttgart.
“This is a great day for me,” the Bosnia international told Roma Radio.
Ervin Zukanovic is glad to have signed for Roma and put “a stressful two days” behind him. “I grew up with Edin Dzeko.”
The defender left Sampdoria on loan with option to buy for a total €4m, though he had been on the verge of joining VfB Stuttgart.
“This is a great day for me,” the Bosnia international told Roma Radio.
“The last two days have been stressful, because I didn’t know where I would be playing, but now I’m very happy and want to help the team prepare for an important game tomorrow.
“I grew up with Dzeko, as we were kids together in a Bosnian team, now we play together in the national side and at Roma. It’s wonderful.
“He scored so many goals for Bosnia and is also a good lad, so along with Miralem Pjanic will really help me settle in. We hope to do well together.
“The Coach will decide where I play. At Chievo I was a centre-back in a four-man defence or three, so I can do different roles. Luciano Spalletti expects certain things from me and I hope to repay his faith.
“I think I can bring my character to Roma. I like to play the ball, I have no fear and want to improve so I can help the team.”
Zukanovic hopes Roma can also learn from Bosnia’s failure to qualify for Euro 2016, losing the play-off to the Republic of Ireland.
“We knew that we had more quality, but in football nowadays you also need a great mentality and hunger, which is what we were missing.”