MX23RW : Friday, December 13 16:01:13| >> :60:1348:1348:

Roma president: Selling Alisson Becker to Liverpool "a no-brainer"

Roma chief: Selling Alisson
© Reuters
James Palotta insists that Roma were right to sell Alisson Becker to Liverpool and is confident that Robin Olsen will be an adequate replacement.

Roma president James Palotta has insisted that selling Alisson Becker "was a no-brainer" due to the size of Liverpool's offer.

The Reds landed their top goalkeeping target last week, making him the most expensive shot-stopper in the world at £67m in the process.

For the second summer running the Giallorossi have sold arguably their prized asset to Liverpool, having also offloaded Mohamed Salah 12 months ago, but Palotta is adamant that there can be no regrets with this latest sale after bringing in Robin Olsen from Copenhagen as a direct replacement.

"In Alisson's case, come on, let's be serious," he told SiriusXM FC. "He's great, I had a conversation the day he was leaving, I wished him great luck and a lot of shutouts, except to give up five or six goals if we play them again. He said he can't do that, but we can still talk to him about that. You know, €70m is a lot.

"I think we've brought in a really, really good goalie in Olsen - I think he's very underrated. [Director of football] Monchi actually was a goalie, so you'd think at the very least he has an idea of who has some talent in that position!

"We've identified another goalie who we think is going to be very, very good for us in that position, but that money also gives us the ability to look at a couple of other positions that we could bring in. So we're doing that right now, Monchi, myself and [Franco] Baldini spoke for an hour plus the other night about a couple of players in a few different positions - I don't want to say the positions.

"If you can pick up three really good players with the money for selling one really good goalie, to the football guys that matter at my place it was a no-brainer."

Alisson was also reportedly on the radar of Real Madrid and Chelsea following a year that saw him shine at the Stadio Olimpico and impress for Brazil at the World Cup finals.

ID:331639: cacheID:331639:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:3343:
Written by
Daniel Lewis
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Simon Mignolet in action for Liverpool in the FA Cup on January 27, 2018
Read Next:
Besiktas 'contact Liverpool over Mignolet'
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
1.15am
Rams
@
49ers
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool14112129111835
2Chelsea1594235181731
3Arsenal1585229151429
4Manchester CityMan City158342721627
5Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest157441918125
6Aston Villa157442323025
7Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton156632522324
8Bournemouth157352320324
9Brentford157263128323
10Fulham156542220223
11Tottenham HotspurSpurs1562731191220
12Newcastle UnitedNewcastle155551921-220
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd155461918119
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham155372028-818
15Everton143561421-714
16Leicester CityLeicester153572130-914
17Crystal Palace152761420-613
18Ipswich TownIpswich151681427-139
19Wolverhampton WanderersWolves1523102338-159
20Southampton1512121131-205


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!