Sporting director Petrachi discusses summer approach

Here’s some of what Petrachi had to say…

The first obstacle you need to face is June 30, with the end of so many contracts…

“Our players here on loan are really settled, most of them are in the starting line-up – apart from a few exceptions, like [Nikola] Kalinic. We need to understand how everything will pan out. But I definitely feel confident that the boys want to finish the season with us.”

Are you and the club also working to make them a part of the long-term future of Roma – beyond these next three months?

“I can tell you that these have been two positive loan moves, even if unfortunately Micki [Henrikh Mkhitaryan] was out through injury for a spell. [Chris] Smalling is happy here in Rome too. The club will do everything to keep them both, above all because the players themselves want to stay.”

Roma have always been active in the transfer market. Has the Covid-19 pandemic changed that this summer?

“Unfortunately right now it’s hard to know how the market will look this summer – prices will definitely be down. We’ll have to keeping reviewing the plan for the market. The club has always worked on the basis of buying and selling players, we’ve always been very active in that regard. We need to be good at investing the money we receive for transfers. That trading needs to be done well, trying to reinvest any transfer funds we receive in the right way.”

Can we say that Lorenzo Pellegrini and Nicolo Zaniolo won’t be part of that trading?

“Well, Pellegrini has a release clause – but he’s a guy who is very tied to the club. So with Pellegrini I highly doubt he would leave us, even if an offer arrived. As for Zaniolo, we will do everything to keep him and that is our stance. Of course the market always creates so many difficulties and tough situations. But the desire is to keep him.”

You have a lot of players surplus to requirements. Has this current global crisis made life harder for you?

“Of course. Everyone is waiting to see how things pan out, and no-one wants to make a first move even if the player is doing well. For example, with [Patrik] Schick, Leipzig have a right to sign him permanently, but naturally they are waiting to see what happens. They are following their own approach.

“Honestly, though, we are not here to beg anyone. Schick is a player that people have already asked me about – he has a market. There are other examples, like [Maxime] Gonalons, who has to be signed permanently if the team stays up. There is also [Gregoire] Defrel, who Sassuolo have to sign permanently whenever their survival is confirmed.

“As for [Alessandro] Florenzi, there are sides who are interested in him and we will have to evaluate that. [Davide] Zappacosta has been very unlucky. The coach and I want to take our time to really look at him over the next two months, and see if there is space for him in our squad. If he shows what he can do we will look at how that situation unfolds.”

Right now are you not thinking about making any purchases before selling?

“Obviously my job means that I look at what quality players I might be able to sign. But this has been a unique season, that hasn’t really given many clear answers. In January there was a lot of talk about Kalinic, who then started scoring a few goals soon after. If a player like him scores 7-8 goals before the end of the season then clearly his price is going to change. So if the right opportunity arises we are not going to miss it.”

In your first press conference you said Roma needed to be a destination for players…

“I’ve tried to make the squad younger. I would love to build an even stronger Roma side. It’s a strong group. There is [Edin] Dzeko, who now is the captain – our leader and reference point. Talking with him you really understand how happy he is with the decision he made in the summer, to stay here.

"I think we have done good work and I want to continue that.”