Monchi not interested in swapping Roma for Barcelona

Nicholas McGee

Monchi not interested in swapping Roma for Barcelona image

Roma sporting director Monchi has no desire to leave for Barcelona and is eager for rumours of a potential departure to stop.

The highly respected executive joined Roma from Sevilla in 2017 after helping the Spanish club win 11 trophies in his tenure.

His time in Spain saw him land highly rated names Dani Alves and Ivan Rakitic among others, while also bringing through homegrown talents which netted the club €100 million (£87m/$113m) in transfer fees, in addition to an impressive trophy haul. 

Monchi has attempted to replicate his success at Roma, signing promising youngers Cengiz Under and Justin Kluivert.

First-year success which saw Roma reach the semi-finals of the Champions League in his first full season in the job only continued to brighten his star. 

Barcelona, Manchester United, Paris Saint-Germain and Atletico Madrid are all among the clubs mentioned as interested as bringing in Monchi to oversee their clubs. 

However, speaking before Roma's win over Sampdoria, Monchi told Sky Sport Italia he is uninterested in departing the Serie A side, and hopes he stops seeing his name linked elsewhere.

"I'm happy to work here and I want to stay for many years because I have a lot of confidence in the club," he explained.

"I hope the rumours of my departure stop. I don't want to leave, my goal is to work in the best way that I can. As long as there is trust, I will stay here. My only idea is to stay here."

Roma cruised to a 4-1 win against Sampdoria thanks to goals from Juan Jesus and Patrik Schick and a double from Stephan El Shaarawy.

The win moved the capital club onto 19 points and into sixth place as they rebound from a slow start to the season.

Roma endured a five-game winless streak during August and September, but have since lost just once over their last 10 games.

Nicholas McGee