Roma president releases scathing statement on Mehdi Benatia, calls him a 'liar' and a 'poison'

Roma president James Pallotta is none too pleased with departed defender Mehdi Benatia, and released a scathing statement Monday to dispute the defender's claims that the club needed to sell him for financial reasons.

Benatia, who was the subject of intense transfer speculation throughout the summer, was ultimately sold to German side Bayern Munich in a deal that netted the Italian club €26 million ($33.66 million).

In an interview with sports magazine kicker (via FOX Soccer), the Moroccan defender claimed that he was "annoyed" by the sale, saying that he wanted to stay in the Italian capital this season.

Pallotta, however, recounts the situation playing out quite differently, and didn't hold his tongue when discussing the departed player.

Here's the statement in full, per the club's official website:

Mehdi Benatia has obviously continued with his pattern of outright fabrications over the last couple of months.  We had a verbal agreement on compensation and a raise back in July in Boston.  He personally said to me that he was happy after I told him flat out with no exceptions that we wanted him to stay.  Over the following month he lied about wanting to stay and about the details of his compensation to both Rudi Garcia and his teammates.  Lying to me was one thing which I can somewhat handle. Lying to Rudi Garcia and his teammates was completely unacceptable to me.  I told Walter Sabatini he was becoming a poison and I wanted him gone, and Rudi and Walter agreed.  It wasn’t about the money; it was about having character in our locker room.  We are in a very sound financial position.  As owners of Roma, we make difficult decisions all the time.  As a fan of Roma, I am deeply disappointed that one of our players could act this way. 

It's likely that we haven't heard the end of this feud.