By Alex Baker
Amidst ongoing uncertainty over his future, it was revealed on Wednesday that Francesco Totti was contacted by the New York Cosmos, in the hopes that the legendary Roma striker might consider a move stateside.
“What I can say about that situation is that first of all, anyone, any coach, any organization, any club in the world would be interested in a player like Totti, that kind of player that is loyal to an organization,” said Cosmos coach, Giovanni Savarese, speaking to Tribalfootball.com.
Totti has spent his entire playing career wearing the red and yellow jersey of Roma. However, he’ll be out of contract at the end of the season and it’s not yet clear whether the club will offer him an extension.
While he was given a vote of confidence from Italy’s Olympic Committee this week, it’s believed that behind the scenes, Roma would like to push the 39-year-old into a directorial or ambassadorial role at the club he’s represented for 23 years.
“It’s not many players who can say they spent their entire career with a club and be so successful like Totti has,” said Savarese. “I think you can talk about Raul and a few other players like Maldini who spent their entire life with the same organization.”
If he were to make the move to join the Cosmos, Totti would be the latest in a long line of aging superstars to have wound down their careers at the NYC club.
Pele, Franz Beckenbauer, and Giorgio Chinaglia all turned out for the Cosmos during its heyday in the 1970s. More recently, Raul, a legendary striker for Spain and Real Madrid, spent the final years of his career with the Cosmos, before retiring at the end of last season after leading the club to the NASL championship.
Despite spending long periods on the bench this season and publicly voicing his frustration in remarks to the press, Totti has been in scintillating form for the Giallorossi of late. He’s scored three goals in his last three games and helped set up a vital goal against Napoli this week, as Roma looks to leapfrog the Naples outfit and move into second place and automatic Champions League qualification.
(Photos courtesy of ISI)
