Kluivert has ´great memories´ from Roma, despite frustrating Serie A stint

Justin Kluivert has “great memories” from his time at Roma, but believes he made the right decision by leaving the Italian giants in search of first-team football.

Kluivert joined Bournemouth earlier this transfer window for a reported £9.6million, ending a five-year stint as a Roma player.

However, the winger had spent the last three seasons out on loan, at RB Leipzig, Nice and Valencia respectively. Kluivert had been close to joining Fulham prior to his switch to Spain.

The 24-year-old joined Roma from Ajax in 2018, but never quite managed to live up to his potential in Serie A.

Asked if he was disappointed at how his move to Roma played out, Kluivert told Stats Perform: “I came from Ajax as a young kid, very young.

“I came to a new environment that was very different, I came from Amsterdam where I lived with my mother, my brothers and to move to a big city like Rome, [to play] in a big team that now plays Champions League – that is very difficult.

“Also, the coach and [technical staff] that brought me there, they left in six months. So there was a new coach, a new director, who have their own plan, and that was also something I had never been through in my football career.

“At Ajax everything was good there, everything was nice. I played, I felt good and then, woah, you sit on the bench four or five games, how do you recover from that?

“That was something I had to learn, but I have a lot of great memories from Roma, and [I had] some great games.

“Especially in the second season, I ended it with seven goals. That was not bad, but just the end of the season – it was not how I hoped [it would be], and I think [for Roma] also.

“It was also in the coronavirus time. And that was not a good time for me, because I was doing well and I was selected for the national team [for Euro 2020], but that got cancelled because of coronavirus, and after that it was not so good.

“I just want to play. I love the sport, so if I don’t play four games in a row, or I come in for 50 minutes, I’m not happy with that and I’m still young, so I want to play I want to show my qualities and that’s why I chose to go on loan.”

Solid 👊🏾 pic.twitter.com/J2Dbg8FyDp

— Justin Dean Kluivert (@justinkluivert) August 5, 2023

One of those loan spells saw Kluivert play alongside Edinson Cavani at Valencia.

“Of course, you learn a lot from somebody like that because the career he has had is unbelievable,” Kluivert said of the former Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United striker.

“The goals he scored – it’s unbelievable how many – and I learned a lot. It’s just the small details, or how he works in the gym.

“It’s the small things that make you think ‘This is what a top player does’, and it’s good to learn from these people that have achieved things that you want to achieve.

“So I’m very happy that I’ve played with him and I learned some great stuff from him.”