Newly acquired Roma goalkeeper Rui Patricio gave his first full-length interview since officially joining the club yesterday.
The veteran shot-stopper moved to the capital club on a permanent deal from Wolves, signing a three-year contract.
The Portuguese international discussed his decision to depart the English side in order to team up with compatriot and Roma manager José Mourinho.
“It’s a great feeling. I’m delighted to be here. It’s a chance for me to develop, learn and improve and to come to a club where I can compete for silverware,” he explained to Roma’s official website.
“I’m delighted, I feel confident – and I want to work hard and do my best to help the team. Obviously I was really pleased when I heard Roma were interested in me and I was desperate to come here because I definitely wanted a new challenge.”
“I had three great years at Wolves, where I was very happy, and I can only thank them because they gave me the chance to play in the Premier League. I’ll never forget Wolverhampton because it’s a family club and I love that – but Roma coming in represented a chance to fight for trophies and to join a big club, so I’m really excited.”
“I want to do my best, help the team and help the club to win things. I’m delighted to have the chance to work with Mourinho.This is the first time I’ve worked with him, but he’s certainly one of the best in the world.”
He added, “It’s a dream for any player to work with him and to be coached by him, which was definitely one of the other draws for me, as well as coming to a big club to win silverware and focus on competing for trophies. Working with Mourinho is definitely a huge plus in terms of developing, working hard and improving, so it’s exciting.”
The former Sporting man was also asked about his talks with Tiago Pinto, Roma’s General Director and transfer market chief.
“Tiago Pinto explained the project to me. As I’ve said, it was very interesting. I wanted to come somewhere where the plan was to win trophies. I want to work hard to win things and dream of winning silverware,” revealed Patricio.
“There was the fact of coming to a big club, as I’ve already said because I already knew that Roma is a huge club but this is also a project with the opportunity to win trophies.”
The veteran then discussed the landscape of Italian football, conceding that several clubs will be in the hunt to finish atop the Serie A table.
“As I’ve said, this is a great league and I now have the opportunity to play in Serie A against some great teams and great players. There are several teams fighting for the title, so it’s going to be exciting to have lots of teams competing for the same objective.
“It’s also a huge opportunity to play in another league and experience what Serie A is all about. I’ve played in the Portuguese league, in the Premier League and now I have the chance to play in Serie A, which is a big draw for me and for all players.”
Adding, “My main objective is to continue working the way I have done so far. I want to continue to improve, to help the team and to fight to help us achieve our objectives, so to win silverware.”
“My objective is to give everything, to give 100% in training and to learn and improve, because that’s the only way to progress – not just in football, but in life too. So I want to continue to develop, learn, work hard and win trophies. That’s why I’m here – because I dream of winning things.”
