Javier Pastore looks back on underwhelming Roma spell: “I’m sorry about how things went.” | OneFootball

Former Roma man Javier Pastore looked back on his underwhelming spell in the Italian capital.

During an interview with Ultimo Uomo, Pastore discussed his time at Roma, where he played from 2019 until 2022, but spent the majority of the time injured.

”I’ve had positive moments and negative moments, as normal. I’m sorry for how things went in Rome, definitely: I was hoping to have a longer spell there, to be able to give more.”

“I played a few good games, people remember some quality plays, but I wish I could have done a lot more. Unfortunately, among the problems I had, I spent eight months on the sidelines due to hip surgery.”

”My departure? It was definitely a choice of the club, not least because even before Mourinho arrived they had been clear to me on this point. I was very sorry because I had surgery and had done seven months of rehabilitation to start that year with the team, do the summer preparation and friendlies with the group, prove that I could come back well after the hip operation.”

“I wasn’t allowed to, though: I’ve been a month and a half training alone, away from the team, and that wasn’t a real opportunity for me.”

“I would have liked at least to have a confrontation, talk to a coach who would tell me – in my face, in person – ‘I prefer another type of player’, or ‘I had to choose between you and him’. I, on the other hand, have never spoken to Mourinho, not even once.”

”It was a really difficult time. However, I don’t reproach the people of Rome, quite the contrary. The affection of the fans and the desire to pay them back gave me so much strength, even in the hardest moments, but it was very tiring for me.”

“I really didn’t take it anymore: if I trained 100%, the days later I felt pain even just getting out of bed and walking, so I had to manage this. I was training practically one day yes and one day no, I worked separately from the team, to be able to play on the weekend but nothing came of it.”