Svilar declares love for Roma: “I would have signed an even longer contract.” | OneFootball

Roma goalkeeper Mile Svilar declared his love for the Giallorossi colors in a brand new interview with Il Romanista.

“The wife of a former teammate of mine, when I was at Benfica, but I already knew I was coming to Roma because my contract was expiring, suggested I take the number 99 shirt because it would bring me luck, so I don’t want to change. It’s something that makes me feel comfortable.”

“If I had to tell you honestly what I think, if I could have signed an even longer contract I would have done so,” said Svilar of his new deal until 2030.

“This was my idea and the club’s, to sign and stay together as long as possible. Before the end of the season, I didn’t think too much about it. In that second phase of the season, with Ranieri, we were doing well, and when the games go well, you don’t think about the rest. Once the season was over, however, the beginning of the summer wasn’t very peaceful for me, because I was thinking about this renewal and wanted to find a solution. I knew we would find it, the negotiations took a while, but there was a solution.”

“I never thought of leaving. Honestly, there were other possibilities and other choices, but I never considered taking any other path. I just wanted Roma. I was sure we’d find a solution sooner or later, together with the club, and for me that was the most important thing. I absolutely wanted to stay here.”

“The Friedkins? What I can tell you is that just as I wanted to stay at all costs, they also wanted me to stay by force. This gave me an extra push to decide to stay here at Roma. There were more difficult and easier moments in the negotiations, but when Ranieri became director, I spoke with him two or three times, and it was very important to me, just as it’s important to me now that he stayed at Roma. I can say the same about the Friedkins; I’ve always felt they wanted me to stay. If I hear this from the club and the owners, that’s enough for me.”

“Gasperini? I’ve never told Coach Gasperini this yet, but the two times we played there in Bergamo and I was a starter, in the first 20 minutes I always thought: “It’s going to be difficult to leave here with a win tonight.” Sometimes some teams give you that feeling on the pitch.”

“I will be happy if Roma qualify for the Champions League, definitely. And if Roma go far in the Europa League, because I think the club, the fans, and Roma deserve to go as far as possible in the cup and play consistently in the Champions League, something they haven’t managed in recent years. We have a team and a coach, who has already done so for many years at Atalanta, who deserve to compete for these two objectives.”