When goalkeeper Alisson arrived at AS Roma from Internacional in his native Brazil, it was never intended that he would usurp first-choice Wojciech Szczesny from the number one spot right away. An €8 million fee for the Brazilian reflected his status as an initial backup, but the Giallorossi had seen enough to allow him to take his place between the sticks when Szczesny’s loan from Arsenal ended and the latter would join Juventus on a permanent deal.
If Roma had been initially cautious, 2017/18 would be a revelation, as 6’4” Alisson made save after save. The Giallorossi – with a new Coach in Eusebio Di Francesco – finished third in the league and reached the Champions League semi-final for the first time in 35 years, while their stopper recorded the best save percentage in the league (from all those with more than three appearances) delivering a rate of 79%.
After that campaign and what followed afterwards when Alisson represented Brazil at the World Cup, it was no surprise when Liverpool came knocking and Roma would’ve been mad to turn down a reported £65 million fee.
“I’ve explained it many times, the work of a sporting director isn’t just buying players, to plan, but also to understand what’s best for the club,” explained sporting director Monchi at a press conference. “The financial side also has to be considered.A very big, out of the market offer arrived. We evaluated the pros and cons and made the choice to speak to Liverpool.
“The ambition is the same, if not more, we’ve sold two important players in [Radja] Nainggolan and Alisson, but we’ve signed 10 players before any others.We keep working to find players to become an important team, the ambition is to do things with our heads. You can’t lose your head, and I don’t want to do anything that will put Roma in difficulty.”
That said, supporters could’ve quite rightly felt aggrieved when the Giallorossi only spent €8.5 million on a replacement goalkeeper, as fans so often want to see transfer funds reinvested in the playing squad. Yet to pay over the odds simply to appease people in the stands and at home is not the Monchi way, as 16 years at Sevilla more than proved.
With such an impressive track record, the capture of Robin Olsen from FC Copenhagen was not met with the expected disgust, and in this way the 28-year-old will be one to watch in Serie A this term. The stopper was also a protagonist at this summer’s World Cup, becoming the joint-best for his nation at a single tournament with three clean sheets.
"Robin is a goalkeeper with international experience, and I think he can bring that level to Roma with him," Monchi, himself a former goalkeeper, told the press. "I am confident he can build on the quality that has seen him firmly establish himself as Sweden's No. 1."
The Swedish players were all terribly disappointed after the final whistle when they were eliminated by a 2-0 defeat to England in the quarter-final, but a little bit of time and perspective will have helped Olsen to realise what a valiant effort that side made. He would make some crucial saves in that match that kept the scoreline down to a two-goal margin, giving the indication that he will be ready to make the step-up to the Italian top-flight.
If his signing works out as well as Monchi expects, it will be a sure sign that his buy low and sell high policy is beginning to work in Italy as well as it did in Spain, and so all eyes will be looking at Robin Olsen expectantly as he attempts to fill the shoes of Alisson.
