After spending the last four years in Rome since swapping Manchester for the Eternal City, how’s your Italian?
[Smiles] It could be better, but equally I can do interviews and have conversations, so it’s pretty good. I can get by, and also translate for a lot of my friends and family. There have been ups and downs with it, but once you’ve learnt a foreign language – I’d never learnt another one properly – then you can pick up others after. It’s a work in progress.
You signed a two-year contract extension in April. That must be an indication of how much you’re enjoying your time at Roma?
When I first joined Roma on a season-long loan in 2019, it was a last-minute thing and hadn’t been the plan at the beginning of the summer, but it happened and I find myself still here to this day. My family have taken to it, too – it was a chaotic time to have to say, “We’re going in 48 hours!” In April, I weighed up all of my options – in Italy and potentially back in England – but it just felt right to stay.
Had you always wanted to experience life in a foreign country or was the move purely out of necessity?
Denne historien er fra October 2023-utgaven av FourFourTwo UK.
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Denne historien er fra October 2023-utgaven av FourFourTwo UK.
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Over the Top with Brian Clough - The legendary former Derby and Nottingham Forest manager was a columnist for FourFourTwo from 2001 until his death in 2004 at the age of 69 - not all of his forecasts came true, though he was never short of an opinion...
The legendary former Derby and Nottingham Forest manager was a columnist for FourFourTwo from 2001 until his death in 2004 at the age of 69 - not all of his forecasts came true, though he was never short of an opinion...
"THE PLAYERS DIDN'T SEE KEVIN KEEGAN'S 'MELTDOWN' AS ANYTHING NEGATIVE. WE LOVED HIM FOR HIS PASSION"
The Geordie recalls King Kev's rant, shares his love for Ossie Ardiles and reveals what it's like to cross the Tyne-Wear divide
"HODDLE HAD BEEN PLAYING FOR MONACO UNDER WENGER, SO WE COULDN'T BELIEVE IT WHEN HE JOINED SWINDON HE WAS LIGHT-YEARS AHEAD!"
The tireless winger opens up on playing in his dad's shadow and making the wrong kind of headlines at Sunderland...
"I'M PROUD TO BE THE FIRST AFRICAN IN THE PREMIER LEAGUE - BUT LOOK WHO CAME LATER"
FFT chats to the three Boy's A Bit Special stars of Issue 1: first, a humble hotshot on rejecting Arsenal and being 'Nuddy'
AROUND THE GROUNDS
Rangers' in-form keeper tells FFT he has his sights set on a Three Lions recall
WHY MESSI'S ARGENTINA HAD TO GET 'WORSE' TO CONQUER WORLD
The Albiceleste didn't have their most talented squad in 2022, and their star wasn't at his absolute peak - but 4-4-2 helped them to win anyway...
WHY 1999 WAS THE FINEST MOMENT FOR 4-4-2... AND SIR ALEX FERGUSON
Manchester United swept to a famous Treble thanks to the management skills of their legendary boss - and a formation that suited them perfectly
HOW THE 4-4-2 BECAME BRITISH FOOTBALL'S MOST ICONIC FORMATION
A system of playing inspired the name for this very magazine - on these shores, for numerous reasons, it's football heritage
FINDING DIEGO
A little over a year before his untimely death at the age of 60, Diego Maradona was managing Mexican second-tier side Dorados de Sinaloa - FourFourTwo went deep into drug cartel country to track him down
RESPECT
That's what women's football demands more than anything. Its status has grown exponentially during FourFourTwo's lifetime, but finally the long and arduous battle for recognition is starting to pay dividends