Roma Director Dismisses Talks On Strootman Sale

Kevin Strootman will not be exiting the Stadio Olimpico in January, according to the Italian club’s general director Mauro Baldissoni.

Baldissoni’s claim comes as a huge loss for Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal, who is reportedly counting on signing Strootman- a regular then in his Holland side- to help boost his midfield options at the Premier League club.

“Our (club) president (James Pallotta) has already spoken about this and he gets angry with the rumours that link him (Kevin) to Manchester United,” Baldissoni said to Italian radio station Radio Anch’Io Lo Sport:

Kevin Strootman mobbed by Roma fans as the Dutchman arrives at Fiumicino airport. Image: Getty.
Kevin Strootman mobbed by Roma fans as the Dutchman arrives at Fiumicino airport. Image: Getty.

“Our policy is that of investing in players that have quality but have room for improvement. Kevin is a young player with experience, and we want to build our future with players like him.”

The 24-year-old missed out on the Netherlands third-place finish at this year’s Fifa World Cup through a knee injury but returned to action last month.

Roma were relegated to the Uefa Europa League last week following a 2-0 home loss to Manchester City in their final Champions League group game. But Baldissoni insists his team’s early elimination from Europe’s elite club competition does not mean they will be cashing in on players in the winter transfer market.

“We were cautious and we did not include the revenue of a possible progression to the last 16 of the Champions League on our books,” he said.

“We nevertheless had high hopes of qualifying from a very difficult group. Hence, we have no need to put our books in order.
“Everything is correct and we are no need to sell. We will evaluate the market based on what the team needs from a technical standpoint because our first mission is that of winning games.”

Strootman joined Roma in the summer of 2013 from PSV Eindhoven and scored five goals and set up another six in 24 Serie A appearances last season before suffering a knee injury in March. The midfielder is under contract at the second-placed Serie A outfit until June 2018.