Roma boss Rudi Garcia has revealed that the capital city club’s main objective is to become one of the biggest teams in Europe over time.
The 50-year-old helped the Giallorossi secure a spot in the Champions League next campaign by leading them to an impressive second place finish in his debut season as coach and he has insisted that he’ll remain with the Italian side for the 2014-15 term, as he plans to continue strengthening the team over the summer.
Garcia spoke to L’Equipe about Roma’s goals for the future and their mission to maintain all of their key players for the next campaign, while also commenting on the current state of Italian football.
“I’ll be with Roma next season,” said the former Lille coach. “The team will be spending a week in the United States, in Orlando, with one of our sponsors.
“We will have plenty of time to discuss my future. There is no urgency, I have a contract and I believe in the project of the club. I’m doing well here.
“Italian football in crisis? The thing that negatively surprised me when I arrived here was that the stadiums are crumbling.
“From a neutral perspective, regarding what Italian football has represented for me, from when it reigned in Europe, I’d say that serves a true reflection across the board.
“Portugal have reached Italy in the UEFA ranking. In Europe, Italy must do better. Regarding the violence, too many precautions must be taken to ensure safety and this is not normal.
“Are the clichés regarding tactics in Italian football true? Yes, it is very tactical, but the distinction here is that 40% of the team plays while the others stay back.
“Juventus have taught us different. However, this championship will always remain a defensive one.
“My comments ahead of the match between Livorno and Juventus? There was a huge controversy, but my role was to only put pressure on Juventus, with the title still in reach.
“Livorno left their best players on the bench, saying that the game had already been lost. The result: they have been relegated to Serie B.
“However, I didn’t say anything against Juve or their coach.
“Are we expecting next season to be tougher? Yes, as we will be playing in the Champions League.
“Due to injuries, this past season we had lost [Kevin] Strootman, [Francesco] Totti, Gervinho, [Mattia] Destro and [Federico] Balzaretti.
“If this happens next season with the Champions League without us reinforcing ourselves, then we will hit a wall. We need to keep our best players while taking in new ones.
“Will Roma be looking to keep all of its players including [Mehdi] Benatia after [Miralem] Pjanic’s extension? The renewal of Pjanic is a signal.
“We’ll keep our players and still strengthen our squad. Benatia has four years left on his contract and doesn’t have a buyout clause, so he will remain next season.
“It’s logical that outside clubs are interested in him, given his impressive season.
“What guarantees have I been given by [president James] Pallotta? The goal is to avoid increasing our maximum number of engagements.
“We do not have the means and we go by the financial fair play. We have worked very hard this past year.
“We have sold to gain €80 million and bought new players with €50 million. We will not need to sell any more.
“Is this my condition in order to stay? No, but we must have means to continue competing with Juventus, while also being able to do good in the Champions League.
“The objective of the leadership here is to make Roma one of the biggest clubs in Europe. It will not happen in a day, like the city of Rome itself, but we are in the right direction.”
