Roma legend Francesco Totti claims he has been offered the chance to come out of retirement and would contemplate a return to Serie A at the grand old age of 48.
The former Italy international hung up his boots back in 2017, having spent his entire club career representing his boyhood club.
Having made his debut at 16 in 1993, Totti went on to make a staggering 619 top-flight appearances for the Giallorossi, scoring 250 goals.
A mercurial playmaker with a penchant for the audacious, Totti represented a dying breed of skillful forwards who have largely been frozen out in the modern game.
Despite the game appearing to have evolved, Totti is confident he could still thrive in Serie A and revealed several teams have been in contact to enquire about his potential availability.
‘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. I’m still playing at 48. Half an hour, twenty minutes.’
Totti refused to elaborate on the names of the teams who had attempted to coax him out of retirement, but confirmed he would never represent the colors of Roma’s arch-rivals Lazio.
‘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 had many opportunities to leave Roma during his heyday but delighted in his status as a one-club man, even turning down the chance to join the likes of Real Madrid and Manchester United during Sir Alex Ferguson’s reign.
‘We liked the player and would have liked to include him in our script,’ Ferguson wrote in his autobiography.
‘But when we expressed our interest, it immediately became clear that Totti didn’t want to leave Rome.
‘He was deeply attached to his city. His CV is clear. Totti has only worn the Roma shirt.’
Despite missing out on adding to his trophy collection, Totti ended his playing career content with his medal haul and never regretted the chance to become one of Real’s Galacticos.
‘My retirement was a little unexpected, but correct,’ he explained. ‘Now I have accepted it, but I needed two years to do so, because it was not my decision.
‘In any case, I have never regretted my decisions. Not even from when I was 25 years old and Real Madrid called me at the time of the Galacticos, although I did have a moment of uncertainty.
‘Now, when I see some players from that Real Madrid side, they say to me, ‘you were crazy, you rejected the best team in the world.’
‘I made a decision for a love I don’t regret. Staying in Rome was a double victory. Playing 25 years wearing the shirt of the team I supported.’