Roma sports director Monchi has explained why the club offloaded Mohamed Salah to Liverpool last summer.
The Egyptian international moved to Anfield for a fee thought to be around £36m, and has gone on to score 36 goals in all competitions so far this season.
Due to the 25-year-old's form, questions have been raised about why Roma let the attacker leave, particularly for what is deemed a relatively low figure in the current market.
Monchi has now revealed that the club felt pressure to sell due to Financial Fair Play restrictions, and he also suggested that Neymar's world-record £200m switch to Paris Saint-Germain changed the face of the market.
"On Salah there are two important things to understand," Monchi said at Rome's Foreign Press Association. "First, Salah was sold before the Neymar effect revolutionised the market. Second, we had a necessity to sell Salah before June 30.
"Anyone who understands a bit of this business knows that that's like having a sword pointed at your neck. So taking into account these two conditions, I think we made a sale that was fairly big."
Salah is currently the Premier League's leading scorer with 28 goals.
Danielle Joynson
