Tiago Pinto Discusses Loyalty with Mourinho and De Rossi's Wish for Him to Stay at Roma

"De Rossi wanted me to stay, I was always loyal with Mourinho". The former general manager of Roma, Tiago Pinto, who resigned after the last winter transfer session and who stayed with the club for three years, spoke exclusively to Sky Sport: "With De Rossi, we always had a great relationship even before he arrived. Mourinho? The day of the dismissal was difficult, it means I also made a mistake. I have always been loyal to him and he knows it..." Injured Azmoun returns to Roma after the stop with Iran: how he is doing and how many matches he will miss. Roma fights for the Champions League and is in the quarterfinals of the Europa League, given De Rossi's impact, is there regret for not choosing him earlier? "I am happy with the results," adds Pinto, "I am happy for Daniele and for the players, you as a sports director can go anywhere but your players will always be your players. I am pleased that the team is getting results." Has the work you've done in the market been re-evaluated? "I think that today, with these results and with the turnover, everyone is convinced that Roma has value, that it is a good team with good players, but I would not want to exploit the positive moment to say I did everything right." Is it true that De Rossi asked you to stay? "Yes, we have a good relationship, even before his arrival. I think that he, in the time he worked with me, understood how I am made as a director, beyond being good or bad, I am a loyal person, who helps the coaches, who works hard. For him, it would have been positive for me to stay to have a bit more stability, I explained to him from the beginning that he could count on me until the end, but also that my decision would not change." That day did Mourinho greet you and the team? "That was a very difficult day for everyone, I am still young and I don't know if older sports directors handle it differently. The moment you have to fire a coach I am dead, because when you send away a coach it means you also made a mistake. Everything that happened that day counts little for me. That day counts little. The emotions were too strong, there was huge anxiety and then some things we do or say from both sides that do not represent the work nor a relationship of two and a half years." The Tiago-Mou conflict was much discussed but then you saved him after Genoa..."Mou," remembers Pinto, "knows very well that in two and a half years, with him, I was a soldier. With all the pressure that the world of football entails. It is also true that in our relationship, during the market, there was always a bit of chaos, but he knows perfectly well that until the end I was loyal to him, to the company, and to the project. Then our opinions can be different, but we can work together." But after Genoa did you save Mou from dismissal? "There are things that happen," concludes the former gm of Roma smiling, "Obviously when things are not going well there are evaluations that must be made, but all the decisions that were taken were not decisions of Tiago or others, but collective decisions. So he, after Genoa, continued to train the team and then we also won three or four consecutive matches."