De Rossi: ‘New contract very close, Roma want to spend well’

Daniele De Rossi opened up about Roma’s ambitions in the summer transfer window and confirmed a new long-term contract was ‘very close’ ahead of the Serie A clash with Genoa.

The Giallorossi haven’t been able to invest too heavily in the transfer market over the last few years due to a tight Financial Fair Play settlement with UEFA but are now looking able to spend more in the summer, especially if they manage to secure a spot in the Champions League.

In the meantime, Roma have been working on setting up a new long-term contract for De Rossi, who only signed a six-month deal when he took over from Jose Mourinho back in January. He has impressed in the dugout, averaging 1.94 points per match across his 16 league games in charge.

De Rossi press conference

Speaking in a press conference via Voce Giallorossi, De Rossi first discussed Paulo Dybala’s condition and Roma’s summer plans.

“He’s been out for a couple of weeks, we need to understand his conditions today and we’ll see. With FFP everyone is influenced by income, for now we haven’t talked about the budget, but we want to spend well and not necessarily a lot.

“There are many teams with an interesting style who don’t spend crazy amounts.”

The Giallorossi coach commented on the importance of the coming match with Genoa.

“It will be full of many exciting things, we have an important objective to achieve, they play well but are without motivation. Everything is nice, but we have to win. Gila surprises me, he is special, tactical, I didn’t think he would become so good as a coach.

“A lot of training and now Genoa are one of the best. I’ll be happy to see him again, he’s a good guy. On Kevin, it will be a pleasure for those who have honoured the Roma shirt and for football to be saluted with dignity.”

De Rossi was asked about the status of his contract and if Romelu Lukaku would leave in the summer.

“We’re not waiting for anyone, we’re chatting and that’s the last thing on my mind. The agreement arrived in 10 minutes, but everything must be seen by the lawyers, but it’s not a problem, it’s very close. We were the masters of our destiny, but there were still a lot of tough games.

“We didn’t talk about any players, but we made evaluations on what we’ve done in past years. Maybe it’s better to improve our players and create an asset that gives you consistency, but it’s still early to say who will put the pieces in place, but there’s not much left.”

He touched on the recent frustrations with Gian Piero Gasperini regarding Atalanta’s scheduling.

“Too much time has passed, we talked and clarified it. There were some ideas of mutual respect, these are controversies that are created here.

“We didn’t have doubts about Atalanta, but in general. We have a clear conscience, we had some doubts on the post-season recovery but it didn’t last long. There’s no need to do favours, we complimented our opponents.”

De Rossi was asked if any Roma players were considered unsellable.

“Yes, but I’m not saying who because it wouldn’t be right. Some unsellable players could leave and vice versa others could stay, and I’ll have to make them perform at their best. Everything is still early.”

De Rossi spoke about his expectations for the transfer window.

“Now I’m here, before Mourinho and Fonseca. Everyone has their own way of making the transfer market, but the constant is that we have always finished sixth or seventh.

“Something needs to change, a strong coach must impose himself to get whoever he wants and a strong club must satisfy them. The first requirement will be hunger, they must feel like it’s the best thing that has ever happened to them.

“It doesn’t have anything to do with top players or young players, we need people who have fire… Pjanic went to Juve insulted but at Roma he went to 2000. Making them hungry and making them perform on the pitch is up to me. We need hunger and for them to be strong on the pitch.”

Finally, De Rossi discussed if any parts of his squad in particular need work.

“Yes, but I won’t say which. I won’t go into detail, we have a match. Yesterday I was here for 11 and a half hours, I can’t think about it too much. There will be people who will help me make the squad as strong as possible.

“Yes. I read that I asked, I called… it never happened. I found some names that I liked, but not more than this, both out of respect for the players and for the two games left to win.”