Francesco Totti has revealed that he seriously considered returning to Serie A at the age of 48, while also opening up about his relationship with Noemi Bocchi and the death of his father in excerpts from his new book, Oltre.
The former Roma and Italy captain says he received offers from Genoa and Como after joking in interviews that he was ready to return to professional football.
Totti, who retired in 2017, began training seriously after the Genoa approach. He continued playing eight-a-side football, added three gym sessions and two physiotherapy sessions a week and changed his diet.
He says his body responded better than expected despite being seven years removed from professional football.
‘Could I play for a team other than Roma?’
Totti admits he struggled with the idea of playing for another club.
Genoa were coached by Alberto Gilardino at the time, while Como were managed by Cesc Fabregas. Totti points out that both managers were younger than him.
Despite his physical condition allowing him to consider a comeback, he says his attachment to Roma ultimately became the decisive factor.
“Roma was the point. Not the problem, it never will be,” Totti writes, explaining that playing for another club would have felt like a sporting betrayal regardless of whether he was 18 or 48.
‘The right kiss at the right time’
Totti also recalls the beginning of his relationship with Noemi Bocchi.
He describes their first kiss, which took place in a car near Piazza del Popolo in Rome, as an unexpectedly emotional moment.
Despite his experience, Totti says he found himself thinking like a teenager, wondering whether he should make the first move, whether to close his eyes and whether she would like it.
“It seems we gave each other the right kiss at the right time,” he writes.
‘My world collapsed’
One of the most emotional passages of the book concerns the death of Totti’s father, Enzo, who died after contracting Covid-19 while being treated at Rome’s Spallanzani Hospital.
Totti recalls receiving the call from his father’s doctor. After hearing the word “unfortunately”, he immediately understood what had happened.
“My world collapsed,” he writes.
He describes his father, known as “The Sheriff”, as a quiet man who rarely spoke unless necessary and often communicated through his eyes.
Totti says his father spent his final moments connected to a machine helping him breathe before Covid-19 severely affected his lungs.
“The death that changed my life,” Totti writes, describing the loss as an experience marked by profound anguish.
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