De Rossi: Love for Roma will continue

Daniele De Rossi has promised that the close connection he has with AS Roma and Roma supporters will continue - even as he prepares for his final game for the Giallorossi.

Next weekend’s Serie A match against Parma at the Stadio Olimpico will be the 35-year-old’s final game for his boyhood club, after both parties announced on Tuesday that the club captain will be pursuing a new playing adventure elsewhere next season.

Speaking at a special press conference to explain the news, De Rossi underlined his ongoing passion and love for the club he has represented for almost 20 years, and across over 600 matches.

“I wouldn’t change anything about my decision to stay loyal to this team,” De Rossi said.

“If I had a magic wand, I would put a few more trophies in the cabinet, but nobody can do that. Over the years, perhaps I’ve made a few mistakes, but it couldn’t be any other way.”

He added: “There is huge love there between myself and Roma and that will continue, in another form. I wouldn’t bet against you seeing me sneaking into the stadium or an away game in the coming years, with a sandwich and a beer, cheering on my friends.”

De Rossi will leave Roma having made more appearances for the club than any other player except Francesco Totti – and having firmly cemented himself in the hearts of every Roma fan, as a true example of what it means to represent this club.

“I thank God for the career I’ve had: up until the age of 14 or 15 I didn’t think I was going to be able to make it to this level,” he said.

“I would have been happy with the career my father had. He spent 15 years in Serie C and he was my idol – I’m so proud of him. I’ve done a job I love in the team I continue to love, with some fantastic people and against some fantastic opponents.

“Many of the best feelings have come away from home: the rivalry in the derbies, in Naples, in Bergamo, in Reggio Calabria… they made me feel alive, I thrived on it.

"In my eyes, football is about rivalry and support and there’s a honesty to that. I’m happy to have had sporting friends and enemies that identified both with and against me – it means I became something.”

With De Rossi’s departure coming just two years after Totti’s own emotional retirement, the club and its fans face a future without two of its most famous sons on the pitch – for the first time in almost 30 years.

“Romanismo has been really important for us and that’s in safe hands now with Alessandro [Florenzi] and Lorenzo [Pellegrini],” De Rossi insisted.

“They mustn’t be asked to copy me and Francesco, but to show their own personality and show their bond with the club through that.

“That said, Bryan Cristante is from Bergamo, or Northern Italy – he’s not from Rome but he gives everything in training and in the matches and I’d like another 100 players like him. I can’t say that Roma needs Romans. Roma needs professionals, and if they’re from Rome like Alessandro and Lorenzo then even better.

“To be successful, what you need is to build a strong side, like other clubs can afford to do. That’s the state of the market but I think the club is focused on changing this situation, and I hope they succeed.”