Daniele De Rossi admits he “considered offers” to leave Roma this summer. Not being wanted was “a pretty crushing blow for me.”
The ‘Future Captain’ has spent his entire career at his hometown club, but over the summer considered his options with interest from Chelsea, Real Madrid and Manchester United.
“There was a lot of talk about me leaving this summer,” he told Sky Sport Italia.
Daniele De Rossi admits he “considered offers” to leave Roma this summer. Not being wanted was “a pretty crushing blow for me.”
The ‘Future Captain’ has spent his entire career at his hometown club, but over the summer considered his options with interest from Chelsea, Real Madrid and Manchester United.
“There was a lot of talk about me leaving this summer,” he told Sky Sport Italia.
“When I spoke to the Coach and the club, seeing as I like to always be clear, for the first time ever I said I’d be willing to listen to any offers. I’d see them, evaluate them, whereas in previous years I had always turned down any proposal without even hearing who it was from.
“This year I felt that it could be the right year to change or at least listen to what was out there. As you know, last season things didn’t go well for me and I wanted the best both for me and above all – and I say above all – for Roma.
“Being a Roma player and not making the fans happy, not having everyone agree you should be there, is a pretty crushing blow for me,” said the lifelong Giallorossi supporter.
“There were many things that weren’t going well at Roma, but for me there was something even more important. I couldn’t bear to think that my last game in a Roma jersey would be that Coppa Italia Final lost to Lazio.
“I could imagine myself in any team in the world, lifting any trophy, but to think my last match for Roma was a lost Final Derby was the wrong ending for one of the greatest love stories between a club and a player. I couldn’t do it.”
Another reason De Rossi stayed was his conversation with new Coach Rudi Garcia.
“I believed and felt that he saw me as one of his players, while the entire world was saying the opposite. If you read the newspapers and the websites at that time, people assumed it was a fact I’d be in some distant city signing a huge contract.
“I liked him giving me that sense of ‘belonging,’ straight away talking about work and having a great year together.”