Monchi arrived at AS Roma with a huge reputation.
Whilst at Sevilla the sports director had impressed in Spanish football and beyond with his shrewd buying and selling. The reputation was largely deserved but it was perhaps overlooked that a lot of what Sevilla did in transfers wasn’t particularly cordial and wouldn’t be possible at clubs with bigger finances, like Barcelona or Manchester United.
It may work pleading poverty to an extent at Sevilla, and getting players on loans with all kinds of clauses, often not met, so pushing clubs into a corner, but a different tact would be needed elsewhere.
AS Roma don’t have one of the biggest budgets in European football so the move seemed fitting, but it’s fair to say there’s not universal Roman praise for Monchi after the summer window.
Seeing Alisson, Nainggolan and Strootman all leave in one window isn’t what Roma fans wanted, and then there was the loss of Malcom to Barcelona after an agreement had already been announced.
A whole raft of players have been brought in, including Steven Nzonzi, Javier Pastore and Justin Kluivert.
Monchi, on his part, has made it clear if there’s not success then he’ll leave, and Gazzetta dello Sport say ‘market whispers’ indicate Manchester United and Barcelona ‘cannot wait’ for such a chance.
In reality, the story is more about Roma, and Jose Mourinho’s side has likely been dragged in to make it more dramatic, all based on links in the past.
