Totti never disguised his frustration at not being offered a new contract and pushing him towards retirement in 2017, but started a new experience as director, working alongside Monchi. Now he has been offered a different role in the club, but turned it down, preferring to walk away after over 30 years at the Stadio Olimpico, man and boy. The Giallorossi icon has promised to spill the beans on why he made this decision and it’s a sign that he isn’t even holding this Press conference at the official Roma headquarters.
Totti: “I thought long and hard. Let’s just say it was not my fault that I had to make this decision. I don’t know what else to tell you”. “They knew my intentions and what I wanted, to give so much to this club and team, but they never wanted me to, in all honesty. They excluded me from every decision”. “I will now take other paths. At the moment another club owner wants to trust in me, I’ll always be ready”
“Everyone knows they made me stop playing. I had a six-year contract already as a director. I started quietly, realising it’s a completely different sphere to being on the field. Many promises were made and they were never kept”. “The main focus of certain people has been to remove Romans from AS Roma. Since the Americans came in, they tried in every possible way to shove us to one side… It’s what they wanted and in the end, they succeeded”.
on Baldini: “You can do all the talking you want from Trigoria, but the last word always came from London. There was no point telling people what was wrong and what needed fixing, as it was a waste of time. Nobody listened. "It’s easy to take people for a ride. Seeing as I have always been honest and transparent, I cannot stay here”.
"Many things made me think about this. I was never allowed to participate, they called me in to I think 10 meetings over two years. They’d always call me at the last minute, as if they were trying to keep me out". "What I can say is that I will never hurt Roma. This is far worse than retiring as a player. Leaving AS Roma is like dying, I feel like it’d be better if I died". "I thank Fienga publicly. He was the only one who ever stood up for me. I also thank Ranieri as he would’ve come to AS Roma for free. He is a real man. We didn’t talk about money, the team, he immediately said, ‘tomorrow I will be at Trigoria’".
"I said the only one who can transform AS Roma right now is Antonio Conte. He had given us the all-clear as we saw and talked to him many times, but then there were problems and he changed his mind".
on De Rossi: "I never got involved in the De Rossi decision. I had already told some directors in September that if you think this is Daniele’s last season, tell him straight away, not like with me where you told me two rounds from the end". “From what I’ve seen, it’s what they have always wanted: to remove the Romans from AS Roma”.
“I never contacted Maurizio Sarri. I don’t know what his objectives or evaluations were, just that Sarri was a favourite of Baldini... From what I’ve seen, Fonseca is a fine Coach who can do well and was very impressive at Shakhtar”. “I will go to a few games next season, why not? I am a AS Roma fan. I might go into the Curva Sud with Daniele De Rossi to watch the game, unless of course he’s playing somewhere else. We might need wigs, or we won’t see much of the game!”.
“If we have to sell because this year we are running at a loss of €50-60m, we can’t sell youth players and get that amount of money. We have to sell important players. That’s how it works. This isn’t a surprise to anyone”. "If I was the President of AS Roma and had two icons like Totti and De Rossi, I’d put them in charge of everything. They have ethics, they know everything about what it means to be Roman and Romanista".
"Did someone stab me in the back at Trigoria? Yes. I will never name names, but there are people in there who don’t want me there. These people are hurting AS Roma, not doing what is best for the club". In two years, I never heard directly from Pallotta or Baldini. They have never called or sent a message directly. What would you think in that situation? Would you feel loved and wanted there? No, TWO years?!.
“As far as I am concerned, I was cumbersome for this club. People told me both as a player and a director that I am a burden. It hurt more this time than to leave as a player, because it’s like leaving your mother”. “I thank Pallotta for giving me the chance to stay at AS Roma. I got to know things as a director that otherwise I never would’ve known. I thank him so much for that. “Let it be clear, I want him to succeed & hope he can take Roma back to the top”.
“I spoke to Pallotta face-to-face only once, when I retired as a player. I went to London with my wife and Baldini was there. That is literally the only time we spoke face-to-face about anything”. “I never thought after 30 years of Roma that I’d be here saying goodbye to Roma. I never imagined it”. "At the end of the day, you need a Romanista in there. Because at times, when you see the final whistle and there are smiling faces, it P**s you off. When you see directors who are happy to lose".
on Pastore/Ziyech: “They asked me for an opinion on a player and I said that at this moment he would not be good for AS Roma. he’s had a thousand injuries, in my view, you’d need another player. I would’ve chosen an Ajax player”.
“It’s too easy to hide, because the truth hurts. The Coach may well have made mistakes, but he asked for four or five players and they signed ZERO”.
Totti: “I thought long and hard. Let’s just say it was not my fault that I had to make this decision. I don’t know what else to tell you”. “They knew my intentions and what I wanted, to give so much to this club and team, but they never wanted me to, in all honesty. They excluded me from every decision”. “I will now take other paths. At the moment another club owner wants to trust in me, I’ll always be ready”
“Everyone knows they made me stop playing. I had a six-year contract already as a director. I started quietly, realising it’s a completely different sphere to being on the field. Many promises were made and they were never kept”. “The main focus of certain people has been to remove Romans from AS Roma. Since the Americans came in, they tried in every possible way to shove us to one side… It’s what they wanted and in the end, they succeeded”.
on Baldini: “You can do all the talking you want from Trigoria, but the last word always came from London. There was no point telling people what was wrong and what needed fixing, as it was a waste of time. Nobody listened. "It’s easy to take people for a ride. Seeing as I have always been honest and transparent, I cannot stay here”.
"Many things made me think about this. I was never allowed to participate, they called me in to I think 10 meetings over two years. They’d always call me at the last minute, as if they were trying to keep me out". "What I can say is that I will never hurt Roma. This is far worse than retiring as a player. Leaving AS Roma is like dying, I feel like it’d be better if I died". "I thank Fienga publicly. He was the only one who ever stood up for me. I also thank Ranieri as he would’ve come to AS Roma for free. He is a real man. We didn’t talk about money, the team, he immediately said, ‘tomorrow I will be at Trigoria’".
"I said the only one who can transform AS Roma right now is Antonio Conte. He had given us the all-clear as we saw and talked to him many times, but then there were problems and he changed his mind".
on De Rossi: "I never got involved in the De Rossi decision. I had already told some directors in September that if you think this is Daniele’s last season, tell him straight away, not like with me where you told me two rounds from the end". “From what I’ve seen, it’s what they have always wanted: to remove the Romans from AS Roma”.
“I never contacted Maurizio Sarri. I don’t know what his objectives or evaluations were, just that Sarri was a favourite of Baldini... From what I’ve seen, Fonseca is a fine Coach who can do well and was very impressive at Shakhtar”. “I will go to a few games next season, why not? I am a AS Roma fan. I might go into the Curva Sud with Daniele De Rossi to watch the game, unless of course he’s playing somewhere else. We might need wigs, or we won’t see much of the game!”.
“If we have to sell because this year we are running at a loss of €50-60m, we can’t sell youth players and get that amount of money. We have to sell important players. That’s how it works. This isn’t a surprise to anyone”. "If I was the President of AS Roma and had two icons like Totti and De Rossi, I’d put them in charge of everything. They have ethics, they know everything about what it means to be Roman and Romanista".
"Did someone stab me in the back at Trigoria? Yes. I will never name names, but there are people in there who don’t want me there. These people are hurting AS Roma, not doing what is best for the club". In two years, I never heard directly from Pallotta or Baldini. They have never called or sent a message directly. What would you think in that situation? Would you feel loved and wanted there? No, TWO years?!.
“As far as I am concerned, I was cumbersome for this club. People told me both as a player and a director that I am a burden. It hurt more this time than to leave as a player, because it’s like leaving your mother”. “I thank Pallotta for giving me the chance to stay at AS Roma. I got to know things as a director that otherwise I never would’ve known. I thank him so much for that. “Let it be clear, I want him to succeed & hope he can take Roma back to the top”.
“I spoke to Pallotta face-to-face only once, when I retired as a player. I went to London with my wife and Baldini was there. That is literally the only time we spoke face-to-face about anything”. “I never thought after 30 years of Roma that I’d be here saying goodbye to Roma. I never imagined it”. "At the end of the day, you need a Romanista in there. Because at times, when you see the final whistle and there are smiling faces, it P**s you off. When you see directors who are happy to lose".
on Pastore/Ziyech: “They asked me for an opinion on a player and I said that at this moment he would not be good for AS Roma. he’s had a thousand injuries, in my view, you’d need another player. I would’ve chosen an Ajax player”.
“It’s too easy to hide, because the truth hurts. The Coach may well have made mistakes, but he asked for four or five players and they signed ZERO”.
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