Mohamed Ihattaren did receive personal guidance at Sampdoria, says Sjoerd Mossou. The journalist of the General Newspaper studied the situation of the midfielder last year and was surprised when he interviewed the former PSV player in The Telegraph read. Ihattaren indicated that he was completely left to his own devices at Sampdoria and that he also received no salary.
“I spoke to a lot of people then, who outlined and told a lot about it, how it all went exactly and where exactly it went wrong,” Mossou says in the interview. AD Football Podcast. “In that light, the story of him surprises me, to be honest. I missed the hand in my own bosom, to say the least. He painted a bit of a reality as if he had been left to his own devices, as if he was put on a train to Italy and no one looked after him. My information was already very different then, because I spoke to the people who accompanied him.”
Where Ihattaren indicated that he was not properly supervised, Mossou states that the midfielder at Sampdoria did have a personal supervisor. “Someone who would help him with all kinds of things, with housing, insurance, and so on. That was the same man who did that for Mario Balotelli for years. Balotelli also had personal assistant, who now had the Ihattaren file thrown into his lap. That man had been through a lot, but never this. At one point he took his hands off it. He was not reachable or did not come, that was all very difficult. We cannot say who is to blame, and whether or not that attendant was good or not, I cannot judge. But there was definitely guidance.”
In the interview with The Telegraph told Ihattaren that he had been left completely to his own devices at Sampdoria. “I couldn’t bear it anymore. All sorts of agreements were not fulfilled. As if I didn’t exist. Nothing was arranged, no bank account or insurance. Then I chose myself, protected myself and left.” Sampdoria immediately responded to the interview on Thursday. All words of the midfielder were denied through President Marco Lanna. “This is all nonsense, it’s big lies,” Lanna snapped. “The whole interview was a lie. Everyone here at Sampdoria says it’s not right.”
The Italian club is now considering taking legal action against Ihattaren. “There has never been a disagreement with the coaching staff and the first team,” the statement read. “These are fantasized accusations with no basis. Sampdoria therefore reserves the right to take action to protect the image of the club and to recover damages that have occurred.”