He’s acquired over 200 players in 16 years, and only struck out on 20 or so them. Ramon Rodriguez Verdejo (or Monchi, as he is generally known) is exactly the kind of man AS Roma need to pick up Walter Sabatini’s mantle and take the Giallorossi to the next level.
Famed for turning cheap buys into expensive sales, Seville’s director of sport has all but agreed a new deal with the Lupa, having met Franco Baldini on two occasions in London recently to hammer out the details of a new deal.
Set to move to Manchester United last season, Monchi has quite the reputation, boasting a network of over 700 employees dedicated entirely to finding the latest cheap talent, which he ranks in three categories. Those in group A are to be acquired immediately, category B is for “very interesting” players, C for those who need to be followed.
A Coca-Cola addict, the Spaniard turned Dani Alves into a €40 million sale to Barcelona, having acquired the current Juventus player for a mere €500.000. Julio Baptista joined for €2m and left for €25m, flopping at Arsenal like Geoffrey Kondogbia is at Inter, the Frenchman being acquired for €3m from a bankrupt Lens and being shifted to the principality for €20m.
Among the others, Ivan Rakitic cost him €2.5m, Carlos Bacca €7m, Gary Medel €3m… only to be sold for €18m, €30m and €13m respectively.
This all totals to €300m’s worth of profits from the transfer market alone, which include the latest deals of Grzegorz Krychowiak to PSG (€28m profit) and Kevin Gameiro to Atletico Madrid (€24.5m).
Conscious of his reputation as someone who wins secondary prizes (Sevilla have picked up a stunning five Europa Leagues under his tutelage) a recent Monchi quote should help Roma fans look at things positively:
“No team will ever feature a banner saying ‘What great profits, thanks guys!”. A team needs to win, and reinvest. Otherwise you’re nothing more than a shop, unloved by fans”.
Fabrizio Romano, (@FabrizioRomano), adapted by @EdoDalmonte
