AS Roma have no intention to sign Carlos Vela

AS Roma's sporting director Monchi has insisted that the club are not in the hunt to sign Carlos Vela during this summer's transfer window.


The Mexico international has been a consistent performer for Real Sociedad for the past couple of years, and this led to a suggestion that he could join Giallorossi after having entered the final year of his contract.

While presenting new Giallorossi player Rick Karsdorp, Monchi clarified that the club will not be pursuing Vela as he is not one of the club's priorities for the summer transfer window, he said: "Vela, [Florian] Thauvin and [Hatem] Ben Arfa are good players, but today are not the priorities of Roma. The names in my head are others, ones that have not been in the press."

Monchi developed a reputation of building a team with cheaper buys capable of challenging for honours at Sevilla, and he is planning a similar approach with the Giallorossi, who hope to bridge the gap on Juventus ahead of the new campaign. The Serie A club have comfortably finished in the Champions League qualification spots in recent years, but they face a stiffer task this time around with the likes of AC Milan and Inter Milan aiming for Champions League football under their new Chinese owners.

Vela spent three seasons with Premier League club Arsenal before heading to Real Sociedad in 2011 - initially on a season-long loan. The Mexico international was in his prime form during the early stages of his Real Sociedad career, and this had seen him being linked with a return to former club Arsenal, who had the option of a buy-back clause, which was passed on for a sizeable fee in 2014. The attacker has managed 72 goals and 41 assists during his six seasons with the Basque outfit, and he looks set to honour the final year of his contract before pursuing a fresh challenge elsewhere.