Roma beat Tottenham and Liverpool to sign Seydou Doumbia for €14.4m plus add-ons, so his agent explains why.
Doumbia also wrote a message to the CSKA fans on his Instagram account.
“Dear friends, Today I signed for AS Roma. I will come back to you after the AFCON quarter final to say a real good bye to my friends in Moscow. Take care!”
Roma beat Tottenham and Liverpool to sign Seydou Doumbia for €14.4m plus add-ons, so his agent explains why.
Doumbia also wrote a message to the CSKA fans on his Instagram account.
“Dear friends, Today I signed for AS Roma. I will come back to you after the AFCON quarter final to say a real good bye to my friends in Moscow. Take care!”
The transfer was completed this afternoon and with performance-related bonuses the fee can go to a maximum of €15.9m to CSKA Moscow.
“I don’t know when the two clubs were first in contact, but with us it was 7-10 days ago,” representative Jean Bernard Beytrison told calciomercato.it.
“Rudi Garcia called not to convince him, but to explain his style of football. There is no need to convince someone to come to a side like Roma.
“With Seydou we often discussed the Giallorossi and Francesco Totti, especially after the Champions League games. He is attracted to attacking football, the kind played by Roma.”
The agent was also asked about the interest from Premier League sides Tottenham and Liverpool, among others.
“In every transfer session I am called by many clubs, because he is a player who has always scored regularly. He also faced Manchester City four times, scoring five goals and earning a penalty.
“I don’t think he will struggle to adapt to Serie A. After all, aged 18 he moved to Japan and learned the language. He also showed what he can do straight away in Russia.”
Roma won’t have Doumbia at their disposal for a while yet, as he wants to take the Ivory Coast to the Final of the African Cup of Nations along with new club teammate Gervinho.
“Roma are Roma and that’s a destination many clubs like. He has already chosen his shirt number: 88. His preferred number is 7, but that was already taken.”