Rome, Mourinho: “Zaniolo will stay with us, unfortunately…”

ROME – José Mourinho unloads Zaniolo. After the blue’s request to leave, the Roma coach is very hard on him, a few hours before the match against his friend Spalletti. José is apparently in a great mood: “I’ll give you a present. I give you the team that plays tomorrow ”, he says a few hours before the match against leaders Napoli. Who, for him, “has already won the Scudetto”. And he really gives away eleven: “Rui Patricio, Zalewski on the right, Spinazzola on the left, the three starting central players, Cristante, Matic and Pellegrini, with Dybala and Abraham are playing”. The smiles are interrupted only when talking about Zaniolo: “Unfortunately he will remain. He no longer wants to play for Roma, I bet on who wants to fight for this team ”.

Mister, tell us more about Zaniolo. What is the situation at this point?
“Unfortunately, I’m always right. What I said after La Spezia, which would remain, this seems to be the direction “.

Why do you say “unfortunately”?
“Unfortunately because at one month the player says he wants to go every day. After La Spezia I gave everyone free on Monday and gave optional training on Tuesday. My staff and I will be in Trigoria but you have the option of coming or not. All the players who were on the bench came to practice. Almost everyone who was in the field came. This is the player profile I want. When a player says to his teammates or to the club “I don’t want to play for Roma, I don’t want to wear the Roma shirt, I don’t want to train with the group”, I have to say unfortunately. I had this feeling when I said I expected it to be here on February 1st and now I say sadly that’s what’s going to happen. Nicolò is not available. Nicolò is not part of the Napoli project and I don’t want to talk about this anymore”.

What does Naples expect?
“I expect Napoli that was there from the first day, from the first match. Congratulations to Napoli for the Scudetto, they won it, it’s them and they won it mathematically. He has a good coach, he has excellent players, they are doing a fantastic job. Twelve or thirteen points is a lot. For a team like them there are many. Due to the lack of consistency of Inter and Milan, you don’t even feel that they have an opponent who can win seven or eight in a row. It’s their championship. We’re going to try and win the game. Congratulations to the team, congratulations to Luciano, they won and very deservedly”.

Napoli-Roma is Spalletti against Mourinho, a match between superlatives

by Maurizio Crosetti

January 27, 2023

Can a Rome that doesn’t fight for the very first places satisfy its ambitions for the future?
“The question must be asked by the club. When I was younger I was able to discuss with journalists things that in my opinion are internal things. Maturity helps to be balanced. I don’t mean more ethical, but more a man of society, less selfish or self-centered. The question must be asked by the club when it thinks it must be asked”.

Shomurodov lost, Zaniolo and Karsodorp had to leave: has Roma weakened?
“We have one less player who is a fantastic guy, he worked to have opportunities to play in Rome, but he didn’t have many. Even before us he didn’t play much in Genoa. And if this six-month loan situation ends well, it’s something he deserves. It makes us sad because it’s one of our people who goes away, but maybe he only goes away for 6 months and then comes back. It is obvious that in this way we have one less option. I didn’t expect more, the FFP situation is clearer, isn’t it? The fee that the onerous loan brings us has no impact. Now I expect more difficulties. We play one game a week. Karsdorp is out as long as he wants to be out. It doesn’t take much to stay inside”.

Some time ago he said that there are teams that have 6, 7 or 10 players of Dybala’s level. How many players does Napoli have at Paulo’s level?
“Napoli have many good players but none like Dybala. Years ago I spoke via Face Time with one of today’s Napoli players: I was at Tottenham, he really wanted to come, it cost 10 million, Tottenham offered 5, it could be closed at 7 or 8: he really wanted to come, but at that moment Tottenham didn’t have the money. Now yes, but not at the time. And that player is that boy named Kim.”

Why can Brighton make an adequate offer for Zaniolo and Milan not?
“The metaphor of reality is that the final of the Championship, which is the Italian Serie B, between teams that finished between 3rd and 3rd place. And it’s the match with the most money on the table, more than whoever wins the Champions League. And this says it all: from an economic point of view, all the Premier League teams are stronger than the Italian teams”.

Is your future linked to that universe, to the Premier League?
“No I do not think so. Someone said: the Premier wants José and others José wants the Premier. I don’t want anything, I want to live day after day and when society thinks it wants to talk to me about the future, I’m here. I sleep here almost every day, I go home very little, I’m always here. I’m not comfortable talking to you about this, I’m here and I’m only thinking about Roma.”

Do you think Smalling will renew with Roma?
“He’s playing and playing very, very well. Proving to have a great focus on Rome, on his professionalism. It’s an open situation, I’ve never spoken to him about this, it’s a personal situation that he needs to resolve with the club. But my personal belief is that he wants to stay. I can say, because I know, the club understands his importance and his professionalism and his performance in the last two seasons, where he is always playing without small problems. My belief is that an agreement can be found. I think it’s more here than there. They both have to come to an agreement: Roma because they need Chris and because I don’t see a place where he can be happier. I think they will come to a positive conclusion.”