Empoli sporting director Pietro Accardi shed light on his club’s decision to offload highly-rated youngster Tommaso Baldanzi in a permanent transfer to Roma.
The two clubs agreed to a deal worth €15 million plus a 15% sell-on clause late in last month’s transfer window—subsequently ending his 13-year association with Empoli between their youth setup and first team.
“Empoli is a virtuous club but we’re also very attentive to our accounts,” Accardi told reporters during a press conference.
“Ultimately we must evaluate every offer we receive—both from the club’s and player’s perspectives. There’s been times where we’ve decided to keep a player and not sell and vice-versa. The most important thing here is the group, not individuals.”
He continued, “For instance, we kept Baldanzi during the summer after we finalised two important sales in [Fabiano] Parisi and [Guglielmo] Vicario. From an economic perspective we didn’t need to sell him.”
“However, an important opportunity materialised for the lad [in Roma], and we’re required to take these things into consideration. When you invest in young players, you do so with the awareness that Empoli is a means to get them to an important club.”
Finally, “As a result, we took this opportunity [to sell him to Roma] into serious consideration for the good of the lad and the club.”
