Roma chief happy to shop for talents in England

AS Roma Tiago Pinto admits they’re happy shopping in the Premier League for talents.

The Serie A giants have had a tendency of roping players from the English top-flight in recent years with the likes of Chris Smalling, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Tammy Abraham having moved to the club recently.

Smalling and Abraham have played a key role for Roma in their season and their Premier League experience will be depended upon when they seek to deny Leicester City a chance to make it to the final of the Europa Conference League.

“In recent years, it’s not just Roma, but also those English players are open to leaving the Premier League,” Pinto said ahead of their clash with Leicester.

“There are many clubs who have strong youth academies, but don’t have much playing time, so they go abroad to find space like Tammy Abraham, Jadon Sancho, or Fikayo Tomori. The Premier League tempo is incredible, so they are in good shape. We have been fortunate with the players we signed from the premier League, as they settled in pretty well.”

The first leg of the semifinals played in England ended in one draw and Mourinho will be hoping that he can write history with Roma in the competition.