De Rossi: "We have two games to win, then we'll think about the future”

Here's what he had to say...

Is Paulo Dybala fit enough for the starting line-up? Have the Friedkins said that getting into the Champions League could affect the club's summer transfer business?

“Paulo has had one training session with us, yesterday, which was a pretty light session because in the previous two days we pushed the lads who were training quite hard. He's done some individual sessions in which he's pushed himself a bit. We'll see how he looks in training. He's done very little work with us. Before that wasn't a problem because he'd only missed a few days, but it's now been a couple of weeks that he's been training separately. We'll assess his condition today and then we'll think about it.

“As for the other question, I think how much income you get affects any club, especially with Financial Fair Play. We haven't spoken about how much there will be to spend yet but we agree that we want to spend it wisely. You don't necessarily need to spend a lot because there are teams above us who have spent less than us. Lots of clubs play interesting football without spending crazy money. We need to buy great players and help the ones we've got to develop.”

There will be lots of emotions tomorrow – another Olimpico sellout for the last game of this first part of your tenure. You'll be playing against Alberto Gilardino, who has had some very complimentary things to say about you. He also said that Kevin Strootman will play at the Olimpico and finish his time at Genoa. What will it be like for you from an emotional perspective?

“From an emotional perspective there will be a lot of things to think about. We still have an important target we want to reach. Genoa are playing well, as all the teams should for their pride and dignity. The full stadium will be nice, emotionally it will be nice, but we have an important game to win.

“Gila never ceases to amaze me. He's a special guy, fairly quiet and introverted. When we played together I didn't think he'd become a coach. I didn't think he'd become this good but he's done superbly. He's worked his way up from the lower leagues and developed into a great coach. Genoa have had a solid season. It will be nice to see him because he's a smashing lad – one of those former team-mates you never speak to but when you see them it's a real pleasure because he's a good guy.

“As for Kevin, I have no doubt the Olimpico will pay tribute to him. Those who honoured our shirt and our profession deserve to be given a good send-off.”

Will your contract be announced at the same time as the new sporting director? And can you confirm it will be for three years? Have you accepted that you'll lose Romelu Lukaku? Could Tammy Abraham be the team's centre forward in future?

“We're not waiting for anyone for my contract. We've been very busy and I've had to prepare lots of games so the contract is the last thing on my mind. It took us about ten minutes to agree on the financial aspects and the length of the contract. We're ironing out the last few details. That sort of contract has to be checked by lawyers too. That's all it is.

“When you shake hands and reach an agreement so quickly, I don't think it makes any difference whether we've announced it already or whether it gets signed tomorrow or the next day. It's virtually done.

“As for the other matter and the Champions League, we were masters of our own destiny but we needed to win some very difficult matches to hold on to what we'd almost achieved. We've spoken in general about what Roma need – I think all coaches who know they will be staying on have talked to their club's owners

“We haven't spoken specifically about one player. We haven't spoken about Lukaku, Abraham or anyone else. We've spoken about the general direction things went in the last few years, which often meant bringing in experienced players, on loan, and sometimes it's better to invest in your own players and turn them into assets or something that can be useful for longer and give you more stability. Those are the sort of conversations we've had. We haven't discussed specific players. It's still early. Plus, as you say, we're still missing a person who can bring everything together, with whom we can start discussing names. It won't be long before that person joins. Who will it be? I don't think it's right to talk about contracts that haven't been signed yet.”

Can we take a step back for a moment? As a man of sport, what did you think when Gian Piero Gasperini was talking about a code yellow and when he said, 'We'll gift you the last game against Fiorentina'. Ironically enough, Atalanta could now do Roma a favour by winning the Europa League...

“We've moved on from that. I spoke to Gasperini, we told each other what we needed to say and that included words of mutual respect after the game. When a controversy like that gets stirred up, everyone fights their corner and gives their version of events. Our beef was never with Atalanta. It was a more general concept, about the regularity of the league season, without ever pointing the finger at Atalanta.

“It's in the past now anyway. We know that Atalanta's game was postponed because of a tragedy and ours was because it could have become one. Our conscience is completely clean regarding what happened. We just weren't entirely convinced about when our match was being completed, with their match being played at the end of the season, but that's all it was. It didn't last long and there's no need for any favours. We should have done ourselves a favour by playing better than we did in Bergamo. We've never had any issue with congratulating our opponents when they've been better than us.”

Do you have a group of untouchable players that you want to go with again next season?

“I do, yes, but I won't tell you who they are. It wouldn't be nice or right. Because if I name two, three, five, ten names, the ones I don't mention would come up to me and say, 'You could have told me first.' Having said that, some players we consider to be not for sale could end up leaving and some we perhaps might be prepared to let leave could end up staying.

“It's my job to get the very best out of these players. We've seen before – at other clubs too, not just Roma – that seemingly untouchable players can be replaced by others who do incredibly well, and sometimes players who perhaps weren't first choice one season turn out to be a great signing for the following season. It's too early to say.”

What do you think is the right formula to take the team to the next level? What's your idea? Will you ask for big names or make do with what you get?

“In the last few years Roma have had me, [Jose] Mourinho, and before then [Paulo] Fonseca. Everyone has their own way of doing transfers and everyone builds their squad differently, although it's not something I've done before yet.

“We've been regularly finishing fifth, sixth, seventh, so we need to change something. Whether it's been big names or other players, that has remained a constant. The league placing has been decent but it's not what we want for our future. A strong coach gets the club to buy the players he wants – he has to impose himself. A strong club has to listen to and cater to the coach, within the realms of possibility. If you go and ask for a €100 million player, you're crazy.

“I think the prime requisite for a player should be having hunger and desire, and thinking that playing for Roma is the best thing that could happen to them, whether it's because they love the club, for their career path, because they like Rome or because they want to join Real or Barcelona one day. But if you don't have that hunger, it doesn't matter if it's a big-name player or a young player. Some young players have less hunger than experienced ones – we've seen that loads of times. We need people who set the pitch alight with their running and their desire. I'm not just talking about Roma, the shirt, the Curva – those things meant a lot to me, but for many of the players I played with they didn't because they weren't born Romanisti, yet they still went out there and gave 110%.

“When [Miralem] Pjanic joined Juventus, everyone insulted him but when he was here he did everything he should have done. I remember that. Everything you have to do to win one game more rather than one game less. Winning one more can change the future. Instilling that desire and getting them to perform well, that's up to me. I could go into the park, take 20 players, give them a Roma shirt, and they'd have hunger and desire. But you have to find the right players, with the right motivation, who really perform on the pitch. Who perform not just physically, not just consistently, but who have the right intentions and motivation.”

Have you thought about which area will need strengthening the most? Maybe midfield or the wide areas?

“I have thought about it, yes, but as I said before, I'm not going to say. You have an idea but it's not the most important thing at the moment because we have a match tomorrow. I spent 11 and a half hours here in Trigoria yesterday. I might spend two on the pitch, two preparing the session, two for today's session, three for the match, then perhaps an hour off and I might think about what this team could become in future.

“I can't dedicate more than 5% of my time to these things. Now we can't do anything. We're missing a few people who I'll sit down with so that we can make this squad the best we can. As I said, I haven't given it too much thought. And it's not the sort of thing you share publicly anyway. I've read all sorts of things. De Rossi wants the world. De Rossi has called this player or that player. De Rossi wants this player. And they're not things that actually happened. I've read a few names and sometimes I've thought, 'He wouldn't be bad' but I haven't done anything yet out of respect for the players I have at the moment and also because I don't have time to spend on these things. I have two more games to win.”