Former Roma midfielder Radja Nainggolan was recently interview during an live stream with Tradizione Romanista where he discussed his future as well as his past years with Roma and the eventual downfall with the arrival of ex-Roma sporting director Ramon Monchi.
“I’m too old to go back to Roma now. I live for football but in my own way, others live for football for what it should be as a sport.”
“But I’ve always given everything on the pitch. I still have a house in Rome, I could go back to live there.”
“Rome was the place, in terms of football, where I felt loved and respected. Even for the things that happened off the field. In Rome, little importance was given to such episodes. Only what I gave on the pitch mattered and this pushed me to give more and more.”
“At Roma we have always had very strong teams but Juve were very strong in those years, too. Had we faced today’s Juventus we would have won the Scudetto. We always finished second. There was a lot of quality in the roster. Strootman before the injury was very strong, perhaps the strongest on the team. De Rossi was an example of quality and made you feel a true Romanista. In front was Totti who had an infinite class. The only regret remains not having won anything with them.”
“Sabatini was one of the best sporting directors I’ve had. He understands football and is ahead of everyone else. Then came the other one from Sevilla,” Radja pointed out, while referring to Ramon Monchi who joined in the summer of 2017 and eventually sold Nainggolan a year later. “He ruined the team. He sold everyone. I can’t even name him. If I had known he was leaving shortly after I would have stayed.”
“If I went back to Rome now I would run the risk of ruining all the wonderful memories I have,” he concluded.
