AS Roma have denied selling Alisson to Liverpool show a “lack of ambition” as director of football Monchi admitted the world-record offer was too good to turn down.
Liverpool had a £67m offer accepted for the Brazilian this week, which eclipses the previous record for a goalkeeper of £35m paid by Manchester City for Ederson last summer – which, due to exchange rates at the time, is more than Juventus paid for Gianluigi Buffon – leaving only personal terms to be discussed.
Alisson abandoned his post-World Cup holiday in Malta to fly to Liverpool to complete the move and is expected to become one of the highest earners at the club, earning around £5m-a-year.
“When a very substantial offer comes in you have to consider it,” said Monchi, when explaining Roma’s decision to sell the goalkeeper. “We weighed up the pros and cons and decided to speak to Liverpool.”
“Selling Alisson would not show a lack of ambition. For me, ambition is about doing the right thing after thinking everything through.”
Alisson is the second high-profile departure from Roma this summer after midfielder Radja Nainggolan was sold to Serie A rivals Inter Milan.
“I understand the fans’ view. I want them to know we’re working to build a stronger team,” Monchi added. “Some people never thought we’d be able to sign Kluivert. The same goes for Pastore. Perhaps today is tough for some fans, but we’ve brought in top players.
“I came here to build a strong team, not just for one year but for many years to come – and I’m 100% sure that will be the case.”
