Roma great Francesco Totti says he'd still be playing if not for Luciano Spalletti.
Totti, speaking with Amazon, is convinced Roma hired Spalletti to push him into retirement.
He recalled: "There was a heated argument, but it's normal between coach and player. Let's say he was the second Spalletti, you all know the story anyway.
"Spalletti came to Rome with a goal... Sooner or later I'll talk to him and ask him. He came to get me to stop, perhaps supported by the club, I don't know what really happened. This episode happened, and every time there was a problem, he would yell at me, even in training.
"And the Spalletti I knew was the opposite. I sensed something strange; it wasn't him towards me. I was coming back from a bad thigh injury, and he didn't even ask me what had happened, how I was. He put me on the back burner, and at that point I was still captain. Usually, the first thing a coach does is talk to him and have a chat."
Totti also said: "With another coach, I think I'd still be playing. At 40, I knew I couldn't play every game, I'm not stupid. In that context, someone like me helps the young players and the new ones... Also because I said I'd play for free, I wasn't interested in money, I'd do everything for Roma.
"They had it in their heads that I had to quit, at the start of the season they told me to decide for myself, then with three games to go they explained to me that it would be my last derby. The ways and times bothered me, but I was fine, in training during that period..."