Karsdorp: The target is to be ready for the start of the season

Read what the Dutchman had to say in the transcript below...

How much are you looking forward to starting training with your team-mates and when will you be ready to do so?

Karsdorp: “Unfortunately I can only speak to you in Dutch right now because I don’t speak Italian and can only just get by in English. I’m really looking forward to getting started – the holidays were too long! I’m desperate to return to full fitness. I’m wearing a knee brace at the moment and I hope to have the problem fully resolved within the next three or four weeks. I want to give my all for this club. I want to show how much I wanted to join.”

Did Kevin Strootman speak to you about what it means to wear the Roma shirt?

“Obviously it’s really important for me that Kevin is here. He strongly recommended that I sign for Roma and spoke very highly about the club. It wasn’t an easy decision for me and I hesitated a bit, because I’ve spent my whole career at Feyenoord. Kevin convinced me to come and it’ll be great to be with him next week. All my other team-mates have made me feel very welcome and are helping me out a lot, so I’m really happy.”

What other right-back would you say you’re similar to?

“If you’re familiar with my career you’ll know that I started off as an attacking midfielder and it was only when I was 20 that I became a right-back. I find it hard to compare myself with the great right-backs. I just need to do what I do best on the pitch for the fans and for the people at the club who wanted me here.”

Tactics are a big part of the game in Italy. How are you going to adapt to that?

“I think that when you go from Holland to Serie A you have to work very hard to learn about a new type of football. I’m a player with very attacking characteristics and people say that you have to learn how to defend when you come here – I’m looking forward to putting the work in to make myself a more complete player.”

Would you like to emulate Cafu? He won the Scudetto at Roma and enjoyed great success at international level.

“I’d like to say something. I’ve joined from a team that has just won the league title for the first time in 18 years. It was one of my main objectives. When I got back from my holiday I received a call from Roma and made my mind up pretty quickly to come here. It’s hard to say whether I’ll manage to become a great player like Cafu. I see myself as a small player right now and if I were in the media I wouldn’t place too many expectations on me. That said, I want to promise the fans that we’ll do everything we can to win the Scudetto while I’m here.”

How did your injury come about? Do you have a date set for your return?

“I was playing for the national team in April and in the first minute of the game I took a knock in a challenge. It hurt but I decided to carry on. At half time, I realised it was still hurting and causing me a lot of pain. A week later, I took another knock and the pain never left me after that – I had to have injections in order to play. I’m really happy to have helped my team win the league, but obviously I’m not over the moon with the situation I’m in now. I want to recover as soon as possible, but am taking it day by day. I don’t want to set a return date, but the league starts on 20 August so obviously that’s in my thinking.”

Is it true that Eusebio Di Francesco tried to sign you when he was at Sassuolo?

“Yes, the coach did show an interest in me when he was at Sassuolo. I had only played one season as a starter so back then I needed to stay and build up more experience. I was very happy when he came back in for me this time around. It’s really important to feel wanted by a coach in football.”

Roma said goodbye to a legend in Francesco Totti last year, while you played alongside Feyenoord legend Dirk Kuyt in the 2016-17 season…

“There is a similarity between the two players. I don’t know what Francesco was like here at Roma but I can imagine. Kuyt was very important at the club – he took care of everyone. Regardless of how great a player he was, he became my friend and we even went on holiday together. These players make their presence felt on the pitch. He played a vital role in the title win and scored three goals in the last game. I imagine that what Totti did here was similar, if not even more impressive.”

Do you know how the coach intends to use you here at Roma?

“That was the first question I asked the coach when we spoke to each other. I asked him what kind of playing system he’d be using. I’m a very attack-minded player – two seasons ago I made 11 assists, though last year I was more focused on the defensive side of things.

"In any case, the team is the most important thing, not my personal performances. It’s all about ‘Forza Roma’ here – you celebrate the group, the team.”