CHRIS SMALLING

The Englishman was shunted out of Old Trafford in 2019, but has since become key at Roma

- Matt Nash

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?