Monchi defends decision to sell Mohamed Salah to Liverpool

By Daniel Lewis, Senior Reporter | 15 February 2018

Roma sporting director Monchi claims that the club "had to sell" Mohamed Salah to Liverpool last summer, but admits that they could have held out for more money.

Roma sporting director Monchi has claimed that the Italian club had little choice but to sell Mohamed Salah to Liverpool last summer.

The 25-year-old has been one of the top performers on the continent this term, playing a direct part in 37 goals in the six months since arriving.

Salah has hit numerous milestones at Liverpool, such as becoming the second-fastest player in the club's history to reach 30 goals, prompting questions as to why Roma let him leave for a fee that could climb to £44.4m.

Asked about Roma's decision to part company for a paltry fee in the same window that saw Neymar swap clubs for £198m, Monchi is quoted by Sky Sports News as saying: "At the end of the day, we could reach €50m with bonuses, but at that moment we had to sell and that was an important option.

"The Neymar and Kylian Mbappe transfers changed the market, but at that moment it was necessary that we sell. I still think the price could've been better for Salah, but it did give us the possibility of making other moves.

"When I arrived, the Liverpool offer for Salah was 32m euros plus 3m euros in bonuses. In today's football, players go wherever they want to."

Monchi also revealed that Roma were willing to sell striker Edin Dzeko to Chelsea last month if the English champions had met his asking price.