The agent of Kevin Strootman has revealed that his client turned down a host of clubs before joining Roma on a five-year deal last week.
The former PSV Eindhoven midfielder had been linked with a move to Manchester United this summer, but the 23-year-old joined the Italian outfit on Friday.
"It was a long and difficult negotiation process, especially between the two clubs," his agent Fabio Parisi told Radio Centro Suono Sport.
"Roma are on the stock exchange and are part-owned by a bank, while PSV are controlled by multinational company Philips, so there were a lot of technical details to sort out. As for the player, however, he chose quickly. He spoke to Coach Rudi Garcia and Roma made a very impressive impact on him. It was a confident decision."
"Even if some other clubs had tried to intercept talks, he had already chosen Roma. He was struck by the passion of the fans who greeted him in the city when he arrived for a medical."
Strootman has 16 caps for the Netherlands.
Matt Law
