Daniele De Rossi: Former Roma midfielder set to retire
Thursday 25 July 2019 11:37, UK
Roma icon Daniele De Rossi has decided to retire from football, according to Sky in Italy.
The 35-year-old played his last game for the Serie A side in May but claimed he wanted to carry on playing, with Fiorentina, AC Milan and Boca Juniors manifesting their interest in signing him on a free transfer over the past month.
However, after a period of reflection while on holiday, Sky in Italy say De Rossi has decided to hang up his boots and kick off his career in management, following in the footsteps of his father Alberto who is coaching the Roma youth team.
It is thought that the midfielder was not keen on joining another club after 18 seasons with Roma.
When the club announced in May that he would be leaving, De Rossi told rioting fans outside of their Trigoria training centre that he would have retired should that have been their wish.
Last month, fellow club icon Francesco Totti quit his post as director, criticising the directors for their role in his former teammate's departure.
"I told the board in September: if you think this is going to be his last year, tell him now - don't treat him like you treated me. He's the captain and deserves respect," he said.
"Then Monchi and Di Francesco left and he got injured. They let too much time go by, and then the problem came up, just as it happened with me. From what I know, they wanted it, they always wanted to take the Romans out of Roma.
"If I was the Roma president and had people like myself and Daniele, I would give them the keys to everything."
De Rossi, a product of Roma's youth system, passed on his captaining duties to fellow Roman Alessandro Florenzi following his departure from the Stadio Olimpico.
He made 616 appearances for the Italian side over the course of 18 seasons, scoring 63 goals and winning two Coppa Italias, one Supercoppa Italiana and the FIFA World Cup with Italy in 2006.
