Roma president reveals reasons behind Salah's departure

CAIRO – 29 March 2018: Roma President Jim Pallotta replied to the media criticism that described his club as a supermarket after selling their best players, Miralem Pjanic and Mohamed Salah.

“There are things that go on behind the scenes that people don’t realize, as either players want to leave or there are things we have to do. We’re not just trying to sell players,” Pallotta said during an interview with Sirius XM radio on Wednesday.

Roma sold Pjanic to their rivals, Juventus, in the summer of 2016 and a year later they sold Mohamed Salah to Liverpool.

“When you think about it, Pjanic had a release clause and he had to go. Salah is tearing up the Premier League; he said he wanted to leave and had no time left on his contract, so we had no choice,” Pallotta explained.

Both players have shined since they left the club. Pjanic reached the 2017 UEFA Champions League final with Juventus before losing to Real Madrid, while Salah has conquered the Premier League.



The Egyptian scored 36 goals with Liverpool in all competitions, including 28 goals in the Premier League, making him the league’s top goal scorer.



Roma is having a great season on the European level, as they have qualified to the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals and the draw pit them against the title favorites, Barcelona.

Pallotta spoke about the game, saying, “I’m pretty confident we can play Barcelona. Obviously, it’s an incredible team with incredible talent, not just Leo Messi by any means.”

Barcelona hosts Roma in the first leg on Wednesday, April 4 before facing them a week later in the second leg in Italy.

Pallotta added, “We can’t let a team like Barcelona take advantage of any mistakes. I think the guys are ready to play, I just don’t want us to look past Bologna this weekend.”

Roma faces Bologna Saturday afternoon in the Italian League and hopes to earn a qualifying position to the Champions League next season.