EN
Home News

Monchi assessing options as club looks to add a winger

MOCh

Roma sporting director Monchi has shed further light on the club's ongoing approach in the transfer market, as he looks to sign a new winger to enhance the squad.

The Giallorossi have been strongly linked with Leicester City's Riyad Mahrez in the press and, while Monchi acknowledges the Algerian is a player of interest, the Spaniard says the club are currently looking at alternative options.

"I do not like to work on a single target, but across a number of options: I think it is more logical," Monchi said. "One of these is Mahrez, something that is in the public domain, but other players of interest are not known [to the media].

"We made two offers [to Leicester], the second of which we thought was fair. After that we closed the talks and we are now working on other options.

"What is the percentage chance of a deal? I do not know, there is not a measurement for these things. Mahrez is one option, yes, but he is not the only one - and after the last offer we are ready to look at other possibilities."

Monchi was also asked about the rest of the squad, and whether defender Kostas Manolas or another player could yet depart.

"At the moment Manolas is a Roma player and I think he will continue to be for a while yet," he said. "As far as the contract goes, we are very happy for him to stay.

"The priority now is looking at the right-wing. And after that we will look at the market and work out if we are happy with the defence we have.

"With the winger we have 20 or 25 days to work out and after that we can see if we want to chase other players. We have had a good market so far and are happy with the deals we've done."

The sporting director was speaking at the press conference to present defender Hector Moreno.

"He was my first signing for Roma and, beyond that, he is an important addition to the group," Monchi said. "He is a player I followed for a while when I was at Sevilla and I hoped there would be a day we could work together.

"We were looking for a central defender with experience in European football: Hector has played in the Dutch league and the Spanish. He is a player who can bring the ball out well and has characteristics that fit well with the way Eusebio Di Francesco wants to play."