Borja Mayoral confirms Zidane wanted him to stay at Real Madrid before Roma move

Borja Mayoral has revealed Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane tried to persuade him to stay at the club rather than join Roma on a two-year long loan deal.

The striker’s move to the Italian club was confirmed earlier this month and he will now spend the next two seasons on loan in Rome.

The Spaniard had featured for just 22 minutes this campaign – during a substitute appearance at Real Betis – and has lost prominence to Luka Jovic, who was also in the discussions with Roma before they moved instead for the Madrid youth product.

Mayoral, 23, bagged eight goals in La Liga for Levante last campaign.

“When I arrived at preseason with Madrid, I was going to leave the club quickly, but Zidane wanted me to stay, I told him I had to leave to have more opportunities. I think the club listened to Zidane initially,” Mayoral explained in his introductory press conference, as per Marca.

“Everything was done very late, but in the end I called his (Zidane’s) office again and asked him if he could let me out. I thought I would have more opportunities to play and grow with my football. In the end it was done, I am here and that is the most important thing.”

The striker has scored seven goals across 31 first team appearances in the Spanish capital but has spent three of the past four campaigns out on loan.

Mayoral bagged two goals in 21 appearances in a loan spell at Wolfsburg in 2016-17 before returning to Madrid the following campaign – where he scored seven goals including four in La Liga.

The Spaniard netted 13 goals in 67 appearances for Levante, who had been a cluster of clubs linked with a permanent move this summer.

Image via AS Roma

Tags Borja Mayoral Roma
La Liga - Club News