Francesco Totti to retire at the end of 2016-17

Francesco Totti will retire at the end of the season, having played for Roma since 1993.

Monchi, the new sporting director at Serie A giants Roma, announced earlier today that Francesco Totti will retire at the end of this season.

The Spaniard, who has recently joined Roma after holding the same role since 2000 at Sevilla, was holding a press conference, when he said:

“In terms of Totti, I already knew that there was an agreement with the club that this would be his final year as a player, then he’d start as a director. Francesco is Roma, I want to be as close to him as possible. I’d love to learn even one per cent of the huge amount that he knows.”

The 40-year-old made his debut way back in March 1993. He has since played 783 times for his home town team, and scored 307 goals along the way.

Totti recently made his 616th league appearance for Roma, which puts him third on the all-time Serie A appearance chart.

There have been numerous rumors over the years that Totti might leave Roma, or in more recent times, retire. He has remained at the club though, and continued playing in to his 40s. He has still chipped in with two goals and three assists in Serie A this season, despite making just one start.

The highlight of his career at club level was undoubtedly the 2000-01 campaign. Under the management of Fabio Capello, Totti scored 13 goals in 30 appearances as Roma won the championship for the first time since 1983. Totti was among the goalscorers on the final day of the season, as Roma beat Parma 3-1 to seal the title.

He’s also a World Cup winner, having played in every match during Italy’s victorious 2006 campaign. Totti provided four assists in the tournament, which was the joint most that year.

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Totti is likely to make his final appearance in Roma’s last match of the season. He will hope to sign off with a goal against Genoa at the Stadio Olimpico on May 28.