Paulo Dybala says he thought about taking the lucrative deal offered to him from the Saudi Pro League before ultimately deciding to stay at Roma.
The World Cup winner was being linked with a move to Al-Qadsiah, who reportedly offered him a three-year contract worth €75million.
However, Dybala chose to turn the offer down to stay in Italy and was part of the team that started their 2-1 defeat to Empoli in Serie A on Sunday.
"Everybody looks at the money, but I put many things on the table to come to my decision: my family, my wife, the city, the team, and my desire to return to the national team," Dybala told Sky Italia.
"I'm 30 and feel good. I've seen a lot of criticism about the injuries, but I try to work hard every day to take care of myself and perform the best I can."
Dybala has been a fan favourite at Roma since joining from Juventus in 2022 and has been an influential figure for the club.
He scored 16 goals in 39 appearances in all competitions last season, with only Romelu Lukaku bettering his tally (21 in 47 games).
The Argentinian was also involved in more goals than any of his team-mates (26), having registered 10 assists, while he also led the way for chances created (61) and big chances created (15) among Roma players in 2023-24.
And Dybala admitted that while he is happy with his decision to stay in the Italian capital, he did debate taking the offer.
"Surely when you see that kind of figure… I can't say I didn't think about it, but I weighed a few aspects. It made no difference to my agent. It's not true that he would have made a lot of money.
"The most important thing for him is my happiness. We've collaborated for a long time. I don't know how the Arabs reacted as I didn't speak with them directly."
United boss Amorim defends Fernandes substitution in defeat to Forest
Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim defended his decision to take off captain Bruno Fernandes as the hosts suffered a 3-2 defeat to Nottingham Forest at Old Trafford.
Nikola Milenkovic, Morgan Gibbs-White and Chris Wood scored as Forest inflicted a second straight defeat on Amorim's side in the Premier League.
Fernandes was one of the better players for United on the pitch and scored their second goal in the 61st minute to set up a tense finish to the game.
But the Portugal international was substituted in the 75th minute, with Mason Mount replacing him as United failed to find inroads into the Forest defence.
"Bruno was too tired and I wanted Mount to play that position of second midfielder who opens a bit on the left," Amorim told Sky Sports after the game.
"Joshua [Zirkzee] plays with Rasmus [Hojlund] to have combinations, [Leny] Yoro goes off because we can't give him too many minutes.
"We put Harry Maguire on because of set-pieces, to control more who was winning all the first balls, the only way to attack Nottingham was transitions, to try and win first and second balls. When Harry was on the pitch, he won all the first balls."
Fernandes was also denied by the woodwork from a free-kick in the first half as United dropped to 13th in the table. They were also beaten 2-0 by Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday.
"It's not a surprise because we come in the middle of a lot of games," said Amorim.
"It's really disappointing for the fans, after so many times with disappointment, but we are here to do a job and will continue doing the same things to improve the team."
Meanwhile, their opponents moved to fifth place with another impressive victory and are now only two points behind champions Manchester City above them.
Nuno Espirito Santo's side have won seven matches and drawn and lost four apiece to collect 25 points from 15 matches.
Forest scored inside two minutes in both halves at Old Trafford to bounce back from a 3-0 defeat to Manchester City during the midweek.
"The belief of the players, believing every action is important [to scoring early goals]. The beginning of the second half was very good for us too. Composure was good. The team is growing, and improving. We still have things to address but it's nice," Nuno told BBC Sport.
"It's very important always to bounce back after a bad result. We didn't have a bad performance against City. Fresh leg made a difference during the game."
While United face City in their next Premier League outing, Forest welcome Aston Villa in their next outing.
Championship: Leeds reclaim top spot as Lampard gets first win at Coventry
Leeds United returned to the top of the Championship table following a 2-0 win against visitors Derby County at Elland Road.
Joe Rodon and Max Wober scored their first goals for Leeds as Daniel Farke's side bounced back from a 1-0 defeat to Blackburn Rovers in their last match.
While the Rams, who have only won once in their last 10 games, dropped to 16th place, Leeds overtook Sheffield United – who face West Bromwich Albion on Sunday – on goal difference.
Frank Lampard earned his first win as Coventry City boss as they beat hosts Millwall 1-0, ending a five-match winless run.
The former England and Chelsea midfielder took charge at Coventry last month, succeeding long-serving boss Mark Robins and his first win came courtesy of an Ephron Mason-Clark goal, which snapped Millwall's nine-match unbeaten run.
Tom Watson scored twice as Sunderland ended their six-match run without a win by defeating Stoke City 2-1 at the Stadium of Light.
The 18-year-old equalised for the hosts in the seventh minute, only a minute after Lewis Koumas put the Potter ahead, before he found the winner with a deflected strike three minutes from full-time.
Fourth-placed Sunderland are now only two points behind the top two.
Elsewhere in the Championship, a Sean McLoughlin own goal proved to be the difference between the sides as Blackburn edged Hull City 1-0.
New Hull manager Ruben Selles watched from the stands as his side fell to the bottom of the table while Rovers kept pace with the top four as they trail Sunderland by four points.
Manchester United 2-3 Nottingham Forest: Wood hits winner as Amorim's side lose again
Manchester United suffered back-to-back defeats in the Premier League following a 3-2 defeat to Nottingham Forest at Old Trafford.
Chris Wood's 10th league goal of the season in the 54th minute proved to be the winner as Forest climbed to fifth place – only two points behind fourth-placed Manchester City.
Nikola Milenkovic put the visitors ahead with only 91 seconds on the clock as he headed in a corner from Elliot Anderson, but Rasmus Hojlund levelled the score for United 16 minutes later, following up after Alejandro Garnacho's initial effort was saved by Matz Sels.
Jota Silva and Bruno Fernandes were denied by the woodwork during the first half before Morgan Gibbs-White made it 2-1 to Forest just two minutes after the restart.
Wood then planted a looping header past Andre Onana to double Forest's lead before United captain Fernandes then pulled one back just past the hour mark.
Ruben Amorim's side pushed for an equaliser, but Forest kept them at bay to collect the full points.
Forest now have 25 points from 15 matches, while United are in 13th place with 19 points.
Data Debrief: Wood makes Forest history
Wood's winner was his 25th Premier League goal for Forest and helped him overtake Bryan Roy (24) to become their all-time leading scorer in the competition.
Since Nuno Espírito Santo's appointment in December 2023, only Erling Haaland (21) has scored more non-penalty goals in the competition than Wood (19 – level with Cole Palmer).
Nuno became just the second Forest manager to win both of his first two league games against United, after Fred Earp in the 1909-10 campaign.
Meanwhile, his counterpart Amorim suffered two straight defeats for only the second time, with the first coming during his stint with former club Sporting in August 2022.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
