Francesco Totti Unleashes Furious Tirade Towards Roma Officials After Shock Departure From the Club

Roma legend Francesco Totti held a press conference to discuss his reasons for stepping down from his position as technical director, and he certainly did not hold back in his criticism of the club's hierarchy.

There has been plenty of rumours about Totti's future, including reports of furious clashes with president James Pallotta. 

Given the enormity of the decision, Totti held a press conference (via Football-Italia) to give his side of the story, and he made sure the world knew just how disappointed he was with his boyhood club.

He said: “If I were to return to Roma, we’d need a new owner. First and foremost. If the new owners believed in me, then that would be great.

“What I can say is that I will never hurt Roma. This is far worse than retiring as a player. Leaving Roma is like dying. I feel like it’d be better if I died.

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“I never talked about or asked about money. I asked to be a technical director because I think I am competent at finding good players. I never asked to run everything. I asked to make the same decisions as everyone else, but if they get a new Coach, get players, sell players and don’t ask you, then what kind of a technical director am I?

"I wasn’t ever going to change Roma, but at least give a contribution. Many promises were made, very few of them real. As a fan, that disappoints me, because as a fan, I have dreams of seeing Roma compete at the top.

“Even if we don’t win the Scudetto, we can compete and maybe win a trophy or two. Unfortunately, there are financial problems and they have to be respected.

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“If we have to sell because this year we are running at a loss of €50-60m, we can’t sell youth players and get that amount of money. We have to sell important players. That’s how it works. This isn’t a surprise to anyone.

“Did someone stab me in the back at Trigoria? Yes. I will never name names, but there are people in there who don’t want me there. These people are hurting Roma, not doing what is best for the club."