Madrid: Sevilla’s departing sporting director Ramon Rodriguez Verdejo, better known as “Monchi”, admitted on Friday to having been in touch with Roma among other clubs, but has not signed anything yet.
The southern Spanish football club announced on Thursday that the highly respected sporting director was leaving after guiding them through their most successful era.
Spanish media reports said Monchi, who has admirers across Europe, would go to Roma in Italy in a similar role.
“It’s true that Roma is one of the teams that has shown the most interest, but it’s not the only one,” the 48-year-old told reporters.
“I have not signed anything with anyone.”
He said he had travelled to Rome, but added he had also gone to London recently.
Since taking over as sporting director in 2000, the former goalkeeper helped guide Sevilla from Spain’s second division to winning the Europa League or Uefa Cup five times.
Moreover, Monchi did it while raking in hundreds of millions of euros as the likes of Dani Alves, Sergio Ramos and Ivan Rakitic headed for greener pastures — replacing them at a fraction of the cost.
Players will pay hommage to Monchi when they clash against Deportivo de la Coruna on April 9.
