Matias Soulé recounted his complicated arrival to the Italian capital following a series of lengthy negotiations between Roma and Juventus.
The Argentine attacker recently spoke to Corriere dello Sport about it.
“I wanted to come here so much that I cried at the thought of the deal not going through,” revealed the 21-year-old.
“I will prove on the pitch that I am worth the money that the club spent on me. Being here is wonderful,” he added.
“The negotiations were long, I was anxious about not being able to arrive but everything went well. The Friedkins wanted me badly, I immediately understood their ambition for this club and where they want to take it.”
“And now I’m here, in training camp with my new team and I couldn’t ask for anything better, working hard and with great intensity: we will be ready for the league opener against Cagliari.”
“De Rossi? I think the world of him. He pushes a lot, he is a great worker and an excellent technician. I spoke with him several times during the negotiation and I must say that he not only speaks Spanish, he also has an excellent Argentine accent.”
“He told me about Roma, about how football is experienced here and during this training camp he was exceptional. He is instilling a winning mentality in the team and is providing us with physical and tactical preparation that will be crucial for the season.”
“Dybala? For me he is an older brother, a guide not in football but in life. When I was younger, I saw him as a sacred entity, a player I couldn’t get close to because I was in awe of him and his quality as a footballer. Then we started to get to know each other, we got on well and we formed a good relationship at Juventus.”
“There is an anecdote that I will never forget. It was Paulo’s last year at Juve, he was playing one of the final matches of the season. He was a quarter of an hour away from finishing when I saw him talking to Landucci at a distance while he was pointing at me. Unfortunately, the substitutions were over, but Dybala had asked the bench to let me in because he wanted to play with me at least once before leaving Juve.”
“It is a memory that will always remain with me, because he made me understand how much he cared about me, and his respect for me. When Paulo left Juve I sent him the message ‘I hope with all my heart to be able to play with you one day’. Twists of fate, three years later here we are together.”
“The negotiations? I was on holiday in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, when my agent informed me that Roma were interested. After a couple of days their inquiry had instead turned into a real transfer request and on the same day I received the message from De Rossi telling me that he was waiting for me in Trigoria.”
“That’s where the spark went off. Because they wanted me so much that it was impossible to say no. The coach’s calls, then the Friedkins were personally involved, the management made me understand how much they wanted to focus on me. Their desire to have me pushed me to consider only this opportunity even if I had others in the Premier League.”
“Leicester wanted me a lot, both the manager and the sporting director had called me to convince me of their project. But then I felt the affection of De Rossi, of Roma, of the teammates who contacted me and I decided from that moment to say no to all the other clubs and to think only of Roma for all these reasons plus one.”
“The fans here are spectacular, and that’s not just saying so. Last season Paulo and Leo invited me to the Olimpico to watch the Europa League match against Feyenoord. I entered the Olimpico, I heard 70 thousand people singing from the anthem until the end of the race. Once out I told my brother that I had never seen such passionate fans. An incredible, thrilling emotion. Already there I honestly thought about Roma, when I still didn’t even know if I would continue at Juventus.”
“I didn’t think about leaving Juve, on the contrary, I was focused on playing well with Frosinone to deserve a shirt. Instead, then in January I learned that they were selling me to an Arab club, but I had no intention of going there even though it was now clear to me what my future would be. I was disappointed because I thought I could play for Juve, but then I came to terms with it.”
“The truth is that Thiago Motta wanted me to stay at Juve, he saw me in his plans and in his attack. But by now Juve’s decision had been made: I was needed to raise cash, I accepted it and at that point I couldn’t wait to leave. I don’t regret anything about my experience at Juve where I had a great time, just that unexpected farewell in January.”
“The third matchday at the Juve stadium? I can’t wait. Not to take revenge, of course, but to demonstrate that I could still have done well in that Juventus team. I will then be happy to see Thiago again who jokingly told me ‘I’ll put Gatti on you so he can beat you’.”
“Now Juve is in the past and Roma are the present and my future, a point of arrival for me.”
“There were a couple of days when I thought the deal would collapse and I cried. De Rossi called me to calm me and to convince me. ‘Mister you convinced me from the first message’, I told him jokingly. In the end everything went well, thanks to the significant investment of the ownership to bring me to the capital.”
“The 30 million sum they paid for me is an incentive to prove that I’m worth that money. Pressure in football is normal, without it we cannot have stimuli or improve. I will demonstrate I was worth it on the pitch.”
“Le Fee? I didn’t know him, he’s really cool. He amazed everyone in the team, he can play all the midfield roles and with the same quality. It will be fun to play with him.”
“Dovbyk? He’s a giant, he’s really strong and he could be an added value for this Roma team. It’s a great signing, like all those that have arrived. We are a really good group led by Pellegrini.”
