You often hear of how many people tried to tempt Francesco Totti away from his beloved Roma but the man himself has revealed he tried to get to footballing superstars to join him in the Italian capital.
'Il Capitano' tried his best to lure the original Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who both played with the two Milanc clubs, to the Giallorossi but Roma's financial structure simply couldn't allow it.
"I've always said you need champions to win," Totti told La Repubblica.
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"I hoped Ronaldo, Ibrahimovic, the best players in the world would come. Not just up-front, but also defenders and midfielders.
"Unfortunately we had a limit, we didn't have the financial muscle to spend on these champions. Really, I tried to bring unthinkable people to Roma."
After coming through the ranks at his boyhood club,Totti spent his entire career at Roma, scoring 307 goals in 786 appearances spread across 25 seasons in Serie A before his emotional retirement at the end of the 2016/17 campaign.
For how gifted a player he was, his career was anything but trophy-laden however, as the 41-year old only managed to lift one Scudetto in 2000/2001 as well as two back-to-back Coppa Italias in 2006/07 and 2007/08.
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Real Madrid's interest in the legendary Italian has been well-documented. Totti would have fit in superbly at Los Blancos and lifted a bagful of trophies in the Spanish capital had he accepted their offer in 2004, but his loyalty to Roma led him to stay put in the end.
"There was a very important offer from Madrid in 2004. But I decided to give up on lots of titles so that I'd always wear just one shirt," he said in an interview with Sky Italia back in February.
"This was what mattered most to me. In the end, instead, I received love and passion, which for me were more important than winning cups elsewhere. I put Roma ahead of everything."
Featured Image Credit:Topics:ย Football News, Football, Serie A, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Ronaldo, AS Roma, Roma, Francesco Totti
