Roma: Smalling breaks silence following Mourinho’s sacking, Renato Sanches drops new hint

Roma defender Chris Smalling breaks his silence following José Mourinho’s sacking, providing an injury update and thanking the Portuguese coach, while Renato Sanches changes his Instagram picture, sharing one with a Roma shirt.

Il Corriere dello Sport reported on Wednesday that both Smalling and Sanches were among the Roma players no longer on good terms with Mourinho.

Smalling has only made five appearances this season and has been on the treatment table since September, while Sanches’ last appearance came in December 2023 when he was introduced from the bench in an away game at Bologna and subbed off after just 18 minutes.

Neither player had commented on Mourinho’s departure from Roma for 48 hours, but Smalling has now broken his silence with a message posted on his Instagram stories.

The former Manchester United defender clarified that he “never asked to, nor even contemplated, leave this great club” and admitted that the last few months have been some “of the most frustrating” of his career.

“The absolute priority for the medical team is to guarantee that I can play a significant role in the later part of this season and for seasons to come,” added the English centre-back who concluded with thoughts for Mourinho and his replacement Daniele De Rossi.

“Thank José and his team for their support over the last three seasons and officially welcome Daniele back to the club,” he said.

At the same time, Sanches has changed his profile Instagram picture again.

After the Bologna game, the Portuguese used a black circle as his profile picture on social media, but now he has changed it again, adding one in a Roma shirt.