Midfielder remains loyal to lifelong club.
Roma midfielder Daniele De Rossi has admitted that he holds no regrets over his decision to remain at the club this summer despite having plenty of offers to go elsewhere, Sky Sports reports.
The 30-year-old, who was linked with moves to Manchester United and Chelsea during the summer transfer window, has spent his entire career at Roma after coming through the ranks at the Stadio Olimpico.
And though he admits that he would be more likely to win trophies elsewhere, he is proud to have stayed and hopes to start making a serious push for honours at Roma.
“If I had gone to play elsewhere, such as Barcelona, I probably would’ve won more,” De Rossi told Sky Sport Italia.
“My story is the same as Totti’s. But then you think of the people of Rome and the love of the fans, so that thought goes.”
De Rossi is largely expected to replace talismanic forward Francesco Totti when the 37-year-old finally decides to hang up his boots, an instance that will be bittersweet for the Italian international when the day comes.
“Francesco is ahead of me and to know I’ll only take the armband when he retires is not a pleasing thought for me or the fans,” added De Rossi.
“Nobody will celebrate that day going ‘Hurray, De Rossi has become the captain!’
“We will all be sad because that’ll mean the best player in the history of Roma will hang up his boots. Besides, you don’t need an armband to be happy, as it’s enough for me to have my team-mates see me as a friend and the fans as a symbol.”