New Roma boss praises Berardi
Domenico Berardi proved to be a talisman for Eusebio Di Francesco at Sassuolo and could come under consideration for the new Roma boss.
New Roma boss Eusebio Di Francesco played a role alongside sporting director Monchi in the signing of Hector Moreno and refused to rule out a raid on former club Sassuolo for forward Domenico Berardi.
Di Francesco held his first news conference as Roma coach on Wednesday after his departure at the end of five celebrated seasons with Sassuolo.
The 47-year-old's arrival came on the back of Mexico defender Hector Moreno joining on a four-year deal from PSV and Di Francesco kept his counsel when it came to a swoop for Berardi, who won his maiden Italy cap against San Marino last month.
"You’ll have to ask the sporting director [Monchi],” said Di Francesco, flanked by Monchi, when asked about Berardi.
"I can say that as a player he's very talented, but that doesn't mean he's a target for us. He has a top profile though.
"The choice of Hector Moreno was a shared one, I work with the sporting director to try and take Roma forward.
"We work for the good of Roma, and together we'll try to put together a very strong team."
Mediaset Premium reported on Tuesday that Inter's long-held interest in Berardi had cooled after Di Francesco's Roma predecessor Luciano Spalletti was brought in to helm a rebuilding job at San Siro.
Di Francesco insists he will remain true to the style that won Sassuolo a Serie A place for the first time in their history before progressing on to Europa League football last season.
"Even though I coached a small team like Sassuolo, I've never had a submissive attitude," he explained.
"With Roma the style of football definitely won't change, we'll always try to force the play and maybe change a little bit depending on the opponents. It depends on the situation.
"We'll start from the 4-3-3, which is how I've expressed myself best, but there could be changes depending on the game."