Yesterday it was confirmed that Francesco Totti is to retire from football at the end of the season.
The news broke in Italy, courtesy of Roma's Sporting Director Monchi.
The Giallorossi Director said during a presentation yesterday, "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."
Totti's last match in a Roma shirt will come against Genoa at the Stadio Olimpico on 28th May, meaning we've got just 25 days left of Francesco Totti as a professional footballer.
Image: PA
To put his legendary status into perspective, 'Il Gladiatore' has made 783 appearances for Roma, scoring 307 goals in the process, making him the second highest Serie A goal scorer in history, behind Silvio Piola, with 248 of his efforts coming in the Italian top flight.
Moreover, he is also the only active player still going who featured on Fifa '96 after goalkeeper Rogerio Ceni retired from football back in December, 2015. He has made a remarkable impact on the fastest selling sports game of all time.
And with news of one of the most gifted footballers of our generation set to call it a day at the ene of the season, we've gone back in time from FIFA 2004 to look at Totti's evolution on FIFA games.
This is what Totti brings to the table on FIFA
Credit: YouTube/GoalBy
Here's a timewarp of memories to feast your eyes on:
FIFA 2004:
Back in 2004, Francesco Totti was the captain of Roma but could only guide his team to a 8th place finish in Serie A as Premier League flops of Mido, Olivier Dacourt and Alberto Aquilani failed to make an impact under Cesare Prandelli.
He was still outrageous on FIFA with a rating of 93.
FIFA 2005:
With a rating of 94 this time, this was arguably Totti's greatest card in terms of stats with dribbling (95), shooting (94), pace (89) and balance (92) all up there with the very best.
Roma came second in Serie A that year, with Totti grabbing the top goalscorer award with 17 goals in all competitions.
FIFA 2006:
With basically the same gameface as FIFA 2005, Totti was rated significantly lower than the previous version and received an undeserved 89-rated card with stats of pace (89). passing (93) and balance (87).
Despite this, he continued to bang them in for fun at AS Roma, scoring 32 goals in all competitions.
Not bad for a 89-rated card.
FIFA 2007:
The Italian forward was back to his best in FIFA 2007 with a rating of 92 and at the age of 29, Totti was in the prime of his career with stats such as ball control (92). dribbling (91) and passing (93) proof of his dominance.
In this season, Totti scored just 18 goals all season but Roma won the Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana that year.
FIFA 2008:
Totti's rating went down again on FIFA 08 and so did his pace stats, which is understandable as the Italian turned 30, but that didn't stop his shooting stats from increasing.
With finishing (90), shot power (91) and long shots (92), Totti was one of the deadliest forwards on the game.
FIFA 2009:
It was a very similar story for Totti in FIFA 2009. His rating remained the same and so did most of his stats but one thing we did notice was his gameface.
THAT LOOKS NOTHING LIKE FRANCESCO TOTTI?
FIFA 10:
In the FIFA that introduced Ultimate Team, we could now clearly see Totti's rating and his 91-rated centre midfield card will go down in FIFA history as one of the greatest of all time.
I mean, how often do you stumble across a CM with 92 shooting, 92 passing and 92 dribbling?
FIFA 11:
Many FIFA fans were shocked to see that Totti had significantly downgraded from the previous year, receiving an unprecedented 82-rated card, but stats of 85 shooting and 86 dribbling made him usable.
As you can see, the gameface is becoming more and more realistic by the year, minus that huge blip in 2009.
FIFA 12:
As you'd expect at the age of 35, Totti's pace fell dramatically in this FIFA but that doesn't take away from his 84 shooting and 83 passing stats.
FIFA 12 was Totti's most realistic gameface yet since the start of this list in 2004 but his stats have started to plunge dramatically.
FIFA 13:
Not much needs to be said from this year. We all know how important pace is on FIFA and Francesco Totti's lack of it meant that he couldn't keep up with some quick defenders.
Still, 89 passing though....
Why so serious, Francesco?
FIFA 14:
After Totti was employed as a winger by Roma, FIFA decided to give him a pace upgrade of +19 from the previous year, as well as a rating upgrade of +3.
He even received an impressive 83-rated in-form card with 89 shooting, 90 passing and 53 pace.
FIFA 15:
At the age of 37, Totti's stats decreased again but after another successful season at Roma. he famously overtook Ryan Giggs as the oldest player to score a Champions League goal.
He still received a respectable 80-rated card.
FIFA 16:
Although he turned 39 this year, Totti received 5 different cards throughout the season after making 15 appearances in all competitions, scoring 5 times.
Check out this 92-rated card:
FIFA 17:
AND HERE WE ARE.
Francesco Totti has been rewarded with another decent card at the tender age of 40 but his 38 pace will hold him back. Saying that, his shooting and passing stats are as good as ever.
No Totti, no party.
He better have a legends card on FIFA 18!
Featured Image Credit:Topics: AS Roma, Francesco Totti