West Ham

Di Michele: I Was Close To Joining Roma

The former Torino man David Di Michele has revealed that he was close to joining Roma in the summer just gone.

Nov 18, 2008 11:46:01 PM

The Italian Job: Gianfranco Zola's first game in charge of West Ham United was settled by new signing David Di Michele, pictured celebrating after scoring one of his two goals in the 3-1 win over Newcastle United.

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David Di Michele

For several weeks in the most recent transfer period, Torino’s David Di Michele was strongly linked with a move to the Italian capital, to play with AS Roma.

Somewhat surprisingly however, the deal failed to go through, and the player was loaned to West Ham United, with an option for the English club to make the deal permanent at a later stage.

Di Michele himself has not had much to say since the unexpected move to England, until recently, when he was interviewed by Guerin Sportivo, and spoke about his experiences in the English Premier League.

The striker, who is still owned by Torino, made it clear that his life in the Premier League could come to an end at the conclusion of the season.

“I am at West Ham on loan for now. Torino has had some economic problems, and so my future is uncertain,” he said.

“As well as this, I have not seen nor spoken to (Gianni) De Biasi – the Torino coach – since I left the club,” he added.

Di Michele did not see eye to eye with his former boss, and so he felt that, “with these conditions, it was impossible to continue, despite the good relationship I had with the President (Urbano) Cairo.”

To conclude the interview, the player revealed that, “I was extremely close to joining Roma.

“Maybe I will one day, however for now I will remain a supporter of the club.”

Adrian Del Monte