"If Madrid has not gone for a star after leaving Cristiano, it's because he has them inside: Isco, Bale, Benzema ..."
"We sold to Salah for the Financial Fair Play, the son of Kluivert is the investment of the future"
There are courses to be a sports director, but there are no courses to be Monchi, a character who has sublimated a controversial position in a self-taught way. With the sense of humor that can not be lacking in a guy from San Fernando, from Cádiz, he tends to joke that for so many years as substitute goalkeeper he was given to watch many players and listen to many coaches, wise men on the bench as Luis Aragonés, Cantatore or even Bilardo himself, whom he does not avoid during his appointments. Actually, there is no charge, nor master that offers such an experience, without any possibility of plagiarism.
Everything learned in Seville is what applies in Rome?
In a few months I realized that the Mochi de Sevilla did not work for Rome. I had to find a new Monchi inside me.
According to what was achieved in the first season, with a Champions semifinals, it can be said that he found it.
Champions semifinalists and third in Serie A. It is to be satisfied. Professionally, I have grown a lot. In Seville I was comfortable, but I needed new stimuli and challenges.
Where did it start?
For knowing the club, the city, the atmosphere, the philosophy with which you work, the internal tensions of the institution, the degree of media impact that the club has on society ...
From a very passionate club to another similar one.
The romanist is tremendously emotional, comparable to the sevillista. You have to keep this in mind when you make your policy, but without avoiding unpopular decisions.
How to decide the withdrawal of Totti or sell Salah ...
They were different decisions. The withdrawal of Francesco [Totti] was something that had to be faced. It took a while to understand, it is logical, but he did, and today he performs a great function in the club. With Momo [Salah] there was no other choice but to sell. In order to comply with the Financial Fair Play we had to raise the maximum possible, since we risked a UEFA sanction. The club, in addition, was already under surveillance. We did not sell only to Momo, also to Rudiger, Mario Rui or Paredes.
The liquidation, however, happened a year round. What did it mean to eliminate Barcelona?
Self-esteem and impulse for a long-term project, based on the international growth of the Roma brand. If you access our work in social networks, it is easy to check. The club has a very modern profile. It is the way to compete with Milan, Inter or Juventus. Roma is the only one that has been in the Champions League for five consecutive years, along with Juve. Sustained growth is the way.
If last year they crossed paths with Atlético and Barça, they do it with Madrid. How do you observe it without a Christian?
It is not easy to cover the hole of a footballer of that level, but despite the departure of the Portuguese, his staff is colossal.
Did you expect the market, in which you are every day, a great operation of Madrid?
Ask yourself why you have not done it.
Tell me you.
Because he has the best inside: Isco, Bale, Benzema, Modric, Kross, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo ...
Too expensive for you?
I have worked in clubs that are looking for players at an appropriate price and willing to grow.
For example, Kluivert's son, Justin.
He is 18 years old and I think he will be someone important in European football of the future. Handles both legs, plays in both bands, has speed and goal. It is an investment. My work, however, is more focused on profiles, not names. I advance to the coach, to his technical-tactical needs, depending on the type of game he wants, be it Di Francesco, Emery, Juande or Sampaoli.
Di Francesco does not seem like the Italian coach of a lifetime.
Italian football is no longer that of catenaccio: Di Francesco, Conti, Allegri ... there are more examples. I decided on Di Francesco because he fulfilled the three premises that I set to choose coach. The first was that he knew the house, and he had been a player in the stage in which Rome won the scudetto. The second, that it was Italian. He believed that with a foreign sporting director it was enough and it was necessary to compensate that quota. The third was that he was a coach capable of growing the players, something he had shown in the past. He has done it and, therefore, this summer we have renewed him one more year.
You sell calcium well, very depressed in recent years.
I say what I see, what is changing. The competition is working well. There is a conviction that if it is more showy, it will be easier to re-launch it. The arrival of players like Cristiano helps us all, not just Juventus.