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In a bit of unexpected but extremely welcomed news, Roma have signed Director of Sport, Walter Sabatini, to a three year contract extension, keeping everyone's favorite chain smoking master of the transfer in the Eternal City until 2017.
One needn't look any further than the deals he's brokered since breaking free from the Baldini tether this past summer, landing Mehdi Benatia, Kevin Strootman and Adem Ljajic, among others, for at or below market value, to realize his genius. And while we may never really know the extent to which he was in control in the previous seasons, Sabatini surely had a hand in the acquisitions made during summers past.
And we haven't even discussed the profits he wrung from the sales of Erik Lamela and Marquinhos, or how he simply found suitable homes for players who'd long since worn out their welcome.
President James Pallotta said it best when praising this extension, saying that the club is:
Extremely pleased to have Walter Sabatini and his football operations people continue to be an integral part of our success, now and for the future
Now that your future is secure, Walter, get cracking on those Benatia and Pjanic extensions