Francesco Totti: "I would have killed myself rather than leaving Roma"

AS Roma legend Francesco Totti was devastated after leaving the club and believes the wrong people are running it.

There aren’t many of players with unconditional love for a club like the one Totti has for Roma. In modern football, it’s normal for players to experience working for several clubs and leagues. However, this was never Francesco’s wish. A ‘Giallorosso’ through and through, Totti spent his entire career playing for AS Roma, scoring 307 goals in 785 matches.

Naturally, Francesco Totti saw himself pursuing a management position within the club, and that’s exactly what he did until 2019. However, the Italian legend was forced to leave Roma two years ago, something he hasn’t forgotten about just yet. Although Totti wished to stay on Roma’s board of directors, he was left out of the club’s project as the new owners came.

“I pictured myself at Roma forever,” he said. “Then they put me up against the wall, forcing me to make a decision I would never have made. I made a choice, I decided to stay in the world of football. I would feel bad leaving my collaborators. Then, if I were to get tired, I would look at what to do.

“I would have killed myself rather than leaving Roma. I could have brought only good things.”

End of an era 😰

Francesco Totti has quit Roma, ending a 30-year association with the club.

But he's not happy about it 😡 pic.twitter.com/V23DY8l8d9
— Goal (@goal) June 17, 2019

Francesco Totti is against the club’s new policies.

The former Italy international was devastated after leaving his boyhood club. Moreover, Francesco Totti believes Roma needs people who understand what the club is all about.

“I look at it as a fan, I get angry because I hope they finish as high as possible,” he continued. “I hope to help Roma grow with my work, at least from the outside. But I suffer from it. I could have done more than other executives, but I was the last of the Mohicans.

“I was never involved in the decisions. Now, the club is still foreign, the coach and sporting director are foreigners. Someone who knows everything about Roma could have been useful, that’s what’s missing at the moment.

“Why do you think so many former players can’t be part of a club? Perhaps because they are annoying. If I took a football club, I would call former players because they know football.”