Former Roma and Salernitana sporting director Walter Sabatini shared his thoughts on some of his former signings, saying Leandro Paredes “seems to be taking tranquillizers”. Sabatini made a name for himself during his time with the Giallorossi, signing the likes of Marquinhos, Gervinho, Radja Nainggolan and Mehdi Benatia while massively reducing the clubs spending by moving on players with large salaries.
Speaking with La Gazzetta dello Sport Twitch channel (as quoted by Goal), Sabatini looked back at his career to date and touched on the career of some his most notable signings, including Paredes and Nainggolan, and reflected on his departure from Salernitana last summer:
“I have a neurasthenic desire to come back, without football I am half a man, I lose my identity and I don’t know what to think about. The fear of the games, the tension, the training sessions…. Now I feel ripped to shreds. It’s not just a professional issue, but an existential one. I’m shattered without a job’.
“Nainggolan? The one who has angered me the most is Nainggolan, who I love like a son, but he’s a delinquent, he’s someone who if you put 7-8 shots in front of him he drinks them all.
“For him, life is a game, but he has good feelings. He is an exhibitionist, his teammates should have helped him more, they should not have humoured him but marked him tightly. He always got everything he wanted, but on the pitch he is a top player. What I saw him do at Roma, I haven’t seen in other players.
“Paredes? He is disappointing me, every time I see him on the pitch I get an attack of anger, he is having an unbearable indolence. The current version of him seems to be taking tranquillisers.
“This season? Napoli are scary: you have to be blindfolded not to see that they play the most advanced style in European football and among the teams playing in the last 16 of the Champions League.
“What has surprised me about Kvaratskhelia is the extraordinary impact he has in every game, he doesn’t go on a rollercoaster: you give him the ball and he takes off with courage, cheek and I would say also with arrogance. A superlative player. I would have liked to have signed him.
“Salernitana? We clashed over something avoidable, it was my mistake and not (Chairman) Iervolino’s. I have regrets, because I have never been so much loved as at Salerno and it is a love that I have returned. I really feel this feeling for the city and for those people, who still write me all kinds of messages today. It’s really very important for me, it keeps me attached to reality: today’s football isolates you, the people of Salerno hold me to my character and I’m grateful for that’.
