Lorenzo Pellegrini says that his sole focus is on getting ‘back to his best’ and says that he is delighted to still be with Roma after offers from a number of clubs elsewhere during the summer.
The former Giallorossi captain joined Gian Piero Gasperini at the customary pre-match press conference ahead of Roma’s Champions League match at home against Slovan Bratislava on Tuesday night.
Pellegrini press conference ahead of Roma vs. Slovan Bratislava
Pellegrini has spent the vast majority of his career on Roma’s books, aside from a two-year spell with Sassuolo between 2015 and 2017. He has previously served as club captain, but faced an uncertain period heading into the final few months of his contract at the end of the 2025-26 season.
In the end, Roma handed a new one-year contract to Pellegrini in August, which will keep him with the club until the end of the 2026-27 campaign.
He has had to wait until October for his first opportunities of the season, all of which have come off the bench: Twice in Serie A and once against Real Madrid in the Champions League.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference on Monday afternoon, Pellegrini says that his focus has been on getting back to his best possible physical condition.
“I’m fine, I feel calm. I can still improve from a physical point of view. I wasn’t at the same level as my teammates at the beginning of the season, but we’re working on it,” said Pellegrini (via TMW).
“We’re working hard, the group is brilliant. We run quickly during the week and even quicker on Sundays. The contract was the club’s decision and I accepted.”
Looking ahead to Tuesday’s match against Slovan Bratislava, Pellegrini said: “There’s always pressure in any game you want to win. Pressure is nice and we’re used to it, nothing changes there. I think this group has always been united, we feel good and work hard together. There’s always a desire to improve.”
Returning to the topic of his contract extension, Pellegrini said that he was never overly concerned during the summer months when he was technically without a club.
“It wasn’t a worry, I was calm. I thought I would return sooner. The main thought was about getting back to my best. I felt calm over the summer because I often spoke to the coach and his staff and I wanted to continue on this journey together.”
And asked if he had offers to join any other teams over the summer, Pellegrini said: “Yes, but I was only focusing on getting back to my best. If you’re not at your best, you can’t play. My priority was to stay in Rome given what we’d built last season, so I’m very happy.
“The coach was fundamental in a situation where it would have otherwise been fairly normal to go our separate ways. From my point of view, from the first meeting I had with Gasperini, I immediately saw the vision and what I could contribute to Roma. I’ve always tried to do what’s best for the team.
“We haven’t spoken much about the future yet, I’ve just been focussing on getting back to my best. Everyone showed me that they wanted me to stay for this season. For me, the most important thing is to feel good, to be here with this group and to be at 100% as soon as possible to be able to help Roma.”