Sassuolo refuse to sell defender Rogerio to Spartak Moscow for 'ethical reasons'

Serie A side Sassuolo refused to sell Brazilian left back Rogerio to Russian side Spartak Moscow due to ethical reasons, club's general manager and CEO Giovanni Carnevali said.

The 25-year-old defender rejoined Sassuolo in August 2017 from the reserve squad of Juventus, and since then has made nearly 150 appearances in Serie A for the club.

"(It's) very true. The negotiation was done by his attorney, there was a very important proposal of 8 million euros ($8.87 million)," Carnevali told La Gazzetta dello Sport in an interview published on Sunday.

"Considering everything, we decided not to proceed as owners and management. Ethical reasons, we did not want to do a deal with the Russians."

Russian clubs have been suspended from European competition due to the country's invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls a "special military operation".

Sassuolo refused to seal the deal despite the fact that the Brazilian's contract is set to expire in 2024.

"We wanted to make conscience prevail, not to do business with a certain country. And yes, at the cost of losing him for free," Carnevali added.

"It's not that Rogerio is no longer on the market. He is. But the choice was of a different nature, if offers should arrive from other clubs, we will evaluate them."

Sassuolo finished 13th in the 2022-23 campaign.

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