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Totti on the Roma number 10 and Dybala

The number 10 at AS Roma doesn't get handed around like a squad number. That was the whole point when the board tried to set up a presentation moment in 2022 where Francesco Totti would pass it to Paulo Dybala. Totti wasn't having it: "Are you crazy? If you have the will, give it to yourselves, without involving me." Nothing personal against Dybala, he made that clear. The issue was what that shirt means at Roma. His reasoning: "I do not want to retire the number 10 permanently. It would be denying a wonderful dream to children. But it is too important a symbol to give it to someone who comes from the other side of the world for a limited period." So who should wear it? For Totti, a kid raised in Rome who picks the club for life. Not an import on a short stay. Dybala ended up with the 21 instead, the same number he'd worn in his early Juventus years. The 10 stayed where it was, waiting.

1h

Footy News@Footynews

Follow

Totti on the Roma number 10 and Dybala

The number 10 at AS Roma doesn't get handed around like a squad number. That was the whole point when the board tried to set up a presentation moment in 2022 where Francesco Totti would pass it to Paulo Dybala. Totti wasn't having it: "Are you crazy? If you have the will, give it to yourselves, without involving me." Nothing personal against Dybala, he made that clear. The issue was what that shirt means at Roma. His reasoning: "I do not want to retire the number 10 permanently. It would be denying a wonderful dream to children. But it is too important a symbol to give it to someone who comes from the other side of the world for a limited period." So who should wear it? For Totti, a kid raised in Rome who picks the club for life. Not an import on a short stay. Dybala ended up with the 21 instead, the same number he'd worn in his early Juventus years. The 10 stayed where it was, waiting.

1h