Francesco Totti to Retire at End of Season and Become Roma Director, Says Monchi

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Francesco Totti will hang up his boots this summer and become a director at Roma, according to Giallorossi sporting director Monchi. 

Per Football Italia, he said: “In terms of Totti, I already knew that there was an agreement with the club that this would be his final year as a player, then he’d start as a director. Francesco is Roma, I want to be as close to him as possible. I’d love to learn even one per cent of the huge amount that he knows.”

The 40-year-old has spent his entire career with Roma and his contract with the club expires at the end of the season.

Totti made his debut for the club in 1993 at the age of just 16, and he has since scored over 300 goals in almost 800 appearances, winning one Serie A title and two Coppa Italias:

The Italian has made history in Serie A, per Squawka Football:

Totti’s longevity is superior even to the great Gianluigi Buffon’s, as the Juventus goalkeeper did not make his senior debut for Parma until 1995.

As a result, his incredible playing career has lasted longer than many current players have even been alive, per FourFourTweet:

Given his age, Totti has not been a key performer on the pitch for Roma in some time and last year he made just 15 appearances and two starts, albeit he has had more game time this season with six starts from 25 outings, and he has provided three goals and seven assists in 837 minutes of football.

For Italy, Totti won 58 caps and scored nine times, lifting the FIFA World Cup with the Azzurri in 2006.

As noted by sports journalist Roberto Rojas, he is not the only legendary World Cup winner to retire this summer:

The forward has muddied the waters slightly, though, by appearing to dismiss suggestions he played his last Rome derby on Sunday.

Per the MailOnline’s Adam Shergold, Roma general manager Mauro Baldissoni said: “Francesco has a six-year contract [to become a director] so he is going to be involved in many more derbies, even if he will be off the field for those. His contract as a footballer expires in June. At the moment, we don’t envisage seeing him on the field again, but he will be with us for many more derbies.”

However, Totti himself said: “Somebody else may be saying that, but not me.”

Totti could have been hinting he plans to keep playing for the Giallorossi, or perhaps that he does not plan on becoming a director at the club when he retires.

One thing is clear—when Totti does retire, it will mark the end of an era in the Italian capital.