One of the biggest sagas of the past year, as boring as it was, was AS Roma’s pursuit of Chris Smalling.
Then contracted to Manchester United, the defender was initially loaned to the Italian side, where he excelled in his first season, leading to them wanting to make the move permanent.
Unfortunately, the initial deal didn’t include a view to buy, meaning negotiations between the two clubs had to start from scratch.
Wanting to make as much money as possible from the sale, Ed Woodward stood his ground on his early €20m demands for most of the summer, but Smalling’s desire to move and the fear they might be stuck with him eventually led to a €15m or so deal being struck late on.
Since released from his duties, the Italian sat down with Corriere dello Sport on Tuesday, where he revealed how the move came about.
He said: “We were on Lovren (at first), but he wanted to be bought, didn’t want anything else, and I don’t spend €15m in the dark for a player with a groin problem”.
Then, his phone rang.
He continued: “An Italian agent calls me: you can have Smalling on loan. I don’t believe it. I thought it was a hoax. Smalling was one of those players with great marking going extinct. I had to associate him with [Gianluca] Mancini, who is more of a libero. I needed the Vierchowod, the kind of player that breathes down your neck”.
In the end, he got what he wanted, as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer decided not to use his defender, which was his loss and Roma’s gain.
