Serie A

Sabatini Says The Totti Situation Could Destroy Roma

While he is satisfied with Roma’s transfer campaign this summer, the Giallorossi’s sporting director Walter Sabatini is worried about the relationship between Totti and Luis Enrique.

In a press conference on Friday Sabatini publicly asked the Giallorossi captain to make an effort to come to terms with reality:

“Francesco has to understand how things are. He might be more useful to Roma playing 20 games rather than 30. But he has to keep smiling, also so that he can help the new arrivals. And the coach must be able to make his choices calmly.”

Sabatini went on:

“There are no untouchable players in modern-day football. This situation risks destroying the team: everything else is becoming overshadowed by this problem. Francesco has to deal with being left out in a different way.” The Giallorossi director then said he hoped for an end to the three-way dispute between the captain, Luis Enrique and future general manager Franco Baldini: “I think it’s time we faced up to this Totti-Baldini-Luis Enrique triangle, which I’m really not keen on. It’s as if we’ve stalled. I know that if a plane stalls then it starts to descend and I wouldn’t want Roma to plummet. I can sense the danger in these situations and we must resolve them.” He then clarified: “The chances of Totti leaving Roma? Zero, I just can’t fathom it. I have a good imagination but that’s a scenario I can’t even begin to picture.”