Former Roma transfers chief Walter Sabatini has hailed their swoop for Nemanja Matic.

The former Manchester United midfielder signed for Roma last week.

Sabatini told Tuttosport: "He will make another qualitative leap, (Jose) Mourinho has already achieved an exceptional work for the club: he has transformed the victory from possibility to necessity. They must not lose Abraham, then they will be able to grow further: Roma have embarked on a very positive path.

"I ran after him (Matic) like a desperate man ... But I had the bad luck, so to speak, of being a manager of Palermo.

"The agent, at the time a young boy, denied it to me with great pain: he has personality, charisma, precision in the transmission of the ball, I hope he is physically fit because a few years have passed for him too."