Football League World
·11 October 2023
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·11 October 2023
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It seems as though Jose Mourinho played an influential role in Rasmus Kristensen's decision to join Roma on loan from Leeds United in the summer transfer window.
That's after the right-back admitted that he was keen to work with the Serie A side's boss, due to his legendary reputation as a manager.
Kristensen only made his move to Leeds last summer, joining the Elland Road club from Red Bull Salzburg, for a fee reported to be worth around £10million.
The Denmark international then went on to make 32 appearances in all competitions for the Whites last season, scoring three goals and providing one assist in that time.
However, he was unable to prevent Leeds suffering relegation from the Premier League to the Championship at the end of that campaign.
As a result, Kristensen was one of a long list of players to depart the club following that drop into the second-tier, with his particular move seeing him join Mourinho's Roma on a season-long loan deal.
Since then, the right-back has played seven Serie A games for Roma, who currently sit tenth in the Italian top-flight standings, although he has been left out of their Europa League squad for Financial Fair Play reasons.
Despite the disappointment of missing out on European football, it seems Kristensen is still enjoying his time in Italy, thanks in no small part to the fact that he is now getting to work with Mourinho.
Indeed, it seems that opportunity to work with one of the most highly rated managers in the World, is one of the reasons Kristensen chose Roma as his next destination over the summer.
Speaking about Mourinho and his time in Serie A, Kristensen has been quoted by TV Sport 2 in his native Denmark as saying: “He’s a fantastic coach. That’s one reason why I chose to go to Rome. He’s one of the greatest coaches in history who has won everything there is to win. And he has that aura too.
“For me, he’s a coach who is at the very top. So, of course, I wanted to try to work with him. So far, it has been totally cool and educational.”
It does seem as though Leeds have fared pretty well despite the departure of Kristensen and a number of other players over the course of the summer.
After a slow start to the campaign, Saturday's 2-1 win over Bristol City at Elland Road, means that Leeds have now won four of their last six games under Daniel Farke, losing just once in that time.
As a result, they will spend the October international break fifth in the Championship table, nine points adrift of the automatic promotion places.
Leeds are set to return to action on the 21st October, when they make the trip to Carrow Road to face Farke's old club, Norwich City.
It will certainly be interesting to see how things play out for Kristensen when it comes to his long term Leeds future.
Given he signed a five-year contract with the club last summer, he will still be on the books when his time with Roma ends next summer.
However, Kristensen never seemed to fully settle at Elland Road, while the fact he made this move for the current campaign, suggests he may be reluctant to return to the club if they do not win promotion back to the Premier League for this season.