Former Belgian midfielder Radja Nainggolan has hit out at Aston Villa’s Monchi, believing he forced him out of AS Roma against his will.
Infobae cover comments from the midfielder today in which he makes it clear he is not a fan of the highly thought of Aston Villa chief.
Monchi has made a name for himself as something of a transfer expert over the past two decades, first shining at Sevilla as their sporting director in a glorious 17-year spell that saw them establish themselves as contenders in La Liga and regularly successful in Europe.
He was unable to replicate that at Roma, where he remained for just two years in a spell as sporting director that most would like to forget.
That led to his return to Sevilla for a second spell between 2019 and 2023 that was less successful than the first before he joined Aston Villa in 2023 as their Managing Director of Professional Football.
He’s been impressing at Aston Villa alongside Unai Emery ever since, earning praise for helping to transform the club.
It seems he’ll never have a fan in Nainggolan, though, who believes he was forced out of Roma unnecessarily.
“There was a director (Monchi) who made me feel important, but, in the end, he wanted to sell me without ever having told me anything,” he told the Gurulanding podcast.
“I didn’t want to stay in a place with a person I didn’t get along with and that’s why I decided to leave. If I had known he would leave after six months, I would have stayed in Rome.
“At first they asked me if I was happy to be at Inter and I answered that I was happy, but that my sadness at leaving Roma was greater.”
