Roma vice-captain Daniele De Rossi is set to extend his stay at the Stadio Olimpico, after signing an extension to his contract with the capital club.
The midfielder’s previous deal was set to expire this month, and following Francesco Totti’s retirement on Sunday, the Giallorossi were in danger of losing two of their homegrown stars at the same time.
However, De Rossi has alleviated such fears by putting pen to paper on a two year extension, and confirmed that although the deal had been in place for some time, he delayed the announcement out of respect to Totti.
“We’ve been discussing it for a while, especially over the past month,” the 33-year-old told fans in Facebook Live stream on Wednesday. “Today was the best day to announce it, as we are all going away for the summer soon.
“I signed it today but it’s been done for a few days. I asked that it wasn’t mentioned on Sunday because that day belonged to someone else [Totti], to another player whose story was coming to an end, although it will never really end.”
There had been mounting speculation that De Rossi would call time on his career at Roma and seek another club, with Inter reported to have been interested. However, the Italy international admitted that Totti’s departure played a significant role in his own decision to remain.
“I thought that after Francesco, it would have been a big blow for fans to lose the other symbol of Roma. The fans do not deserve to lose two stalwarts at once.”
De Rossi has spent his entire career with the Giallorossi, and has scored 59 goals in 561 appearances since debuting in 2001.
Source: forzaitalianfootball.com