Former Italy international Francesco Totti has claimed he has been asked by top-flight teams to make an unexpected return to the professional game - and it’s an option he is open to.
One of the Azzurri’s biggest legends of the game, Totti retired in 2017 after spending his entire professional career at AS Roma, scoring 250 Serie A goals to be the competition’s second-highest scorer of all time.
However, more than seven years after calling it a day, the now-48-year-old believes he could still have an impact in the top flight, such is the paucity of talent in his old role - and also feels he could be up to speed to contribute in Serie A by the new year, were he to sign for a club.
“There were Serie A teams that called me,” he said during an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport. “I admit that they made me think a little, a little crazy. It would be difficult, but in life you never say never. There are players who have played many years after the end of their career. It also depends on where you play, with all due respect, but if I were to return to Serie A I would have to train really well.
“With the level of today’s Serie A I could easily have my say on the pitch. I’d be ready in two to three months,” he added. “I’m still playing at 48. Half an hour, twenty minutes.”
Totti didn’t divulge the names of the teams who had approached him over a potential return, though he did unsurprisingly rule out playing for one team: Roma’s biggest rivals. Even so, another domestic team could get the benefit of his technical quality and expertise at some point, he feels.
“Lazio? I wouldn’t have even considered it,” he said. “That’s just talk, it’s a joke.
“If I had to do something crazy, I’d do it in Italy, not abroad.
“When you turn the page you never know what awaits you. Maybe that’s also why I’ve had that thing inside me. It’s true that there’s a beginning and an end to everything. A 10 in Italy? There isn’t one, I could come back.”
Totti’s last appearance for Roma came in May 2017 when he replaced Mohamed Salah as a second-half substitute.
He also served as a director for the club until 2019, leaving after an apparent falling out with then-chairman James Pallotta.
