Roma legend Francesco Totti says he would be open to returning to professional football, claiming Serie A teams have contacted him recently.

Totti, who spent his entire career with Roma, playing 785 times in all competitions, retired from football in 2017.

The 48-year-old, who also earned 58 caps for Italy, scored 307 goals for the club and provided 207 over his 24-year spell at Roma.

Despite being out of the game for seven years, Totti believes it would only take him a few months to get back to full fitness if the right team came for him.

"There were Serie A teams that called me," he said during an event at Sportitalia Village, as quoted by ESPN.

"I admit that they made me think a little, a little crazy," Totti said. "It would be difficult, but in life, you never say never.

"There are players who have played many years after the end of their career. It also depends on where you play, with all due respect, but if I were to return to Serie A, I would have to train really well.

"Lazio? I wouldn't even consider it. I'd be ready in two to three months.

"I'm still playing at 48. If I had to do something crazy, I'd do it in Italy, not abroad, but it is crazy."

Former Lazio goalkeeper Marco Ballotta is the current oldest player to have made a Serie A appearance at 44 years and 38 days.

Totti also admitted his decision to retire was not something he decided himself.

"When you turn the page, you never know what awaits you. It wasn't my choice, but in that moment, it has to be experienced differently from the context," he added.

"Maybe that's also why I've had that thing inside me. It's true that there's a beginning and an end to everything. I didn't want it and so that window remained open."

Francesco Totti has lauded Napoli and "great coach" Luciano Spalletti but suggests the runaway Serie A leaders have been "also lucky" this season.

Napoli are on course for their first Scudetto since 1990, when Diego Maradona was still at the club.

The Partenopei are a mammoth 19 points clear with only 11 games remaining, making a title triumph almost an inevitability.

Yet Roma great Totti, while praising their work under ex-Giallorossi boss Spalletti, believes they have benefited from the absence of a genuine competitor.

Legend Totti won only one title with Roma, although they finished as runners-up on a further nine occasions across his remarkable career, missing out to Juventus, Milan and Inter.

"I honestly didn't expect it like this," Totti told Sky Sport of Napoli. "I knew it was a good team with a great coach – it was a well-made combination.

"They expressed themselves to the fullest in everything and were also lucky because they didn't have an opponent behind them who can keep up with their pace.

"When we were there, there was always Juve, Inter, Milan who always clung there.

"If you won 20 games, they won 19. Napoli doesn't have a second team like that."

Lazio are Napoli's nearest rivals, but Juve would be second if not for a 15-point deduction. Even then, the Bianconeri would be 15 points off the pace.

Sinisa Mihajlovic was given a fond farewell by the good and great of Italian football as his funeral was held in Rome on Monday.

Former team-mates Roberto Mancini, Attilio Lombardo and Dejan Stankovic were among those who carried Mihajlovic's coffin out of the Basilica of St Mary of the Angels and of the Martyrs after the service, to the sound of applause from within the church.

Mihajlovic and Italy head coach Mancini were team-mates at Sampdoria and Lazio, with Mancini later also coaching Mihajlovic at Lazio before taking the then 35-year-old with him to Inter in 2004.

They had a close friendship, winning the Serie A title together with Sven-Goran Eriksson's Lazio in the 1999-2000 season, and doing so again at Inter in 2006, as player and coach.

Mihajlovic's death after a battle with leukaemia was announced on Friday, a shuddering jolt to the football community in Italy, where the popular former Yugoslavia international spent most of his career. He died last week at the age of 53.

After his playing days ended, Mihajlovic became Mancini's Inter assistant before having spells as a head coach with Bologna, Catania, Fiorentina, Sampdoria, Milan, Torino and, finally, Bologna for a second time.

Mihajlovic was ousted as Bologna boss in September of this year, after a slow start to the season, and the players he left behind made the trip to Rome to pay tribute.

Mancini said ahead of the funeral that Mihajlovic had "fought like a lion until the last moment, as he was used to doing on the pitch".

As a player, Mihajlovic was a tough-tackling defender who also packed a fierce shot and became known as a free-kick expert.

Wife Arianna led the family at the funeral. She wrote on Instagram following Mihajlovic's death: "When you will no longer be part of me, I will carve out of your memory many little stars, then the sky will be so beautiful that the whole world will fall in love with the night."

She also posted a picture of the couple and their five children, stating: "I'll take care of them don't worry. Our greatest masterpiece! We'll never stop loving you."

Former Serbia, Lazio, Roma and Inter defender Aleksander Kolarov was among the mourners, along with Serie A luminaries including Francesco Totti, Franco Baresi, Daniele De Rossi, Angela Di Livio and Stefano Fiore.

The Corriere dello Sport newspaper reported the mayor of Rome, Roberto Gualtieri, was also in attendance, along with Italy's sports minister, Andrea Abodi.

Francesco Totti bemoaned Italy's absence at the upcoming World Cup, describing the upcoming tournament in Qatar as like "going to Rome without seeing the Colosseum".

A shock play-off defeat to North Macedonia knocked the reigning European champions out of the running to qualify for international football's premier competition, the second consecutive World Cup they have failed to reach.

Only Brazil have won more World Cup titles than Italy's five, and Totti says they will be sorely missed in Qatar.

"The World Cup without Italy is like going to Rome without seeing the Colosseum," Totti told Sky Sport, "we're talking about a great national team.

"For us Italians it is a negative thing, but these are things that happen in football. It will always be a World Cup, we will watch it with interest."

Totti, who was selected to the All-Star team as Italy won the 2006 World Cup, pointed out the nations he feels can win the tournament, declaring: "France, Argentina, Brazil, Spain, Germany.

"They are always the same, I don't see one over the other. Then they will play in winter, which is strange."

Fabio Capello has compared Paulo Dybala to Roma legend Francesco Totti but believes the Argentine's new strike partner Tammy Abraham has some way to go before he reaches the level of Gabriel Batistuta.

Capello was in charge of Roma when they last won the Scudetto in the 2000-01 season, with Batistuta and Totti netting a total of 33 Serie A goals (Batistuta 20, Totti 13) as they edged out Juventus in a thrilling title race.

With Jose Mourinho having delivered the Europa Conference League trophy during his first season in the Italian capital last term, hopes are high the Giallorossi could mount a serious domestic challenge this time around.

The acquisitions of Dybala, Georginio Wijnaldum and Nemanja Matic have seen Roma tipped for a title push in some quarters, with Abraham also expected to kick on after scoring 17 goals in his first Serie A campaign.

Capello, who last month said Dybala's arrival from Juventus could shift the balance in Serie A, thinks Roma's new signing could prove as influential as the club's all-time top goalscorer Totti.

"Football evolves all the time," Capello told La Gazzetta dello Sport. "But if it's a game I tell you that the Argentine has the touch of the ball, the ability to find a partner and the ease of scoring that Francesco had."

However, Capello says Abraham has plenty of work to do in order to be considered in the same category as Argentine great Batistuta, who scored 30 Serie A goals during a two-and-a-half season spell in Rome between 2000 and 2003.

"Let's take it easy," Capello added. "Gabriel was a professor of the penalty area. The sense of goal he possessed has been had by few players in the world. 

"Abraham is certainly more mobile, but we are on another level for the moment."

Meanwhile, Roma's transfer activity has left Capello believing they are among the favourites to win Serie A in the 2022-23 season, as he claimed only Simone Inzaghi's Inter are clearly superior to Mourinho's team.

"The Giallorossi can no longer hide," he added. "Only Inter, with [Milan] Skriniar, can be superior to them. [Comparisons to] Juve and Milan are already valid."

Roma begin their Serie A campaign with a trip to Salernitana on August 14.

Paulo Dybala turned down an offer to wear the number 10 shirt at Roma because he believes it still belongs to club icon Francesco Totti. 

Roma snapped up Argentina international Dybala on a three-year contract on Wednesday after his deal with Juventus expired. 

Totti made 786 appearances and scored 307 goals in a 25-year career with the Giallorossi that came to an end at the conclusion of the 2016-17 season. The club has not had a number 10 since then. 

Dybala was grateful to be offered the chance to wear the shirt but felt it should remain Totti's. However, he did not rule out donning it in future. 

"I spoke to the general manager and he asked if I wanted to take number 10, which of course is so significant here because of everything Francesco Totti did," Dybala said in a club interview. 

"I think that shirt and that number should remain his because of what he means to the city and the fans. I thanked him because wearing a shirt like that requires a lot of respect and responsibility. 

"I still see it as his shirt. Maybe I'll wear it one day but for now I'm happy to have number 21, which is the number I wore when I first started to be successful. Hopefully I'll now start being successful here too." 

Jose Mourinho steered Roma to their first trophy since 2008 by winning the Europa Conference League last season and Dybala wants to help them push for more silverware. 

The five-time Scudetto winner is looking forward to working alongside Mourinho, who he considers to be one of the all-time great coaches. 

"First of all, I want to get into peak shape so that I'm on a par with the other players mentally and physically and help the team doing my job. I want to help this team to carry on winning, with the mentality they acquired last season thanks to the coach, and with my own experience. 

"Of course, the World Cup is around the corner so I'll be doing my absolute best to help this team and reach the tournament in the best shape possible, then hopefully be in the mix for some silverware at the end of the season." 

He added: "Everyone knows who Mourinho is, what he's achieved in the game and what he can do. It was an exciting conversation and we spoke for a long time. It was a very nice chat. 

"I've been fortunate to play with some of the greatest players of all time and now I'll get to work with one of the greatest coaches of all time." 

Francesco Totti offered advice to Nicolo Zaniolo on his Roma future, but club legend Giuseppe Giannini sees no evidence it was taken on board as transfer rumours persist.

Italy international Zaniolo bagged the winning goal in the Giallorossi's Europa Conference League final triumph over Feyenoord last month and is under contract at the Stadio Olimpico until 2024.

But the close-season has brought frequent reports of a potential move away from Roma.

Zaniolo has also spoken of being flattered by the interest of other clubs in comments that have rankled Roma fans, and Giannini feels the player did himself no favours.

"If you want to stay at Roma, which is not a small team, you can also answer that, okay, you are happy to please others but that the goal is to stay where you are," said Giannini, pointing out he had not made similar comments during his career.

"Instead, his phrases lend themselves to many interpretations.

"I remember that Totti a few days ago said that he had spoken to them, to give him advice on how to live the Roma shirt to the fullest. I do not know if it has been heard."

Still, Giannini believes the club should look to keep Zaniolo, adding: "If you ask me, I would make him a staple of Roma. For his potential, for his age, for what he has already shown, he is a talent to invest in.

"Let's not forget that you won the Conference League thanks to one of his goals. But it is difficult to judge if you do not know the internal dynamics."

But the 57-year-old – a Scudetto winner with Roma in 1982-83 – acknowledges the suggestion the club have not offered Zaniolo a contract extension indicates they have made their mind up.

"If this is true, it means that even Roma are not convinced to keep him," Giannini said. "Maybe they all agree on the idea of separating. So amen, let's move on."

Zlatan Ibrahimovic must "listen to his body" as he ponders his future in football after an injury-hit season with Milan, according to legendary Italian striker Francesco Totti.

The Roma icon also compared Ibrahimovic's stop-start season to the end of his own playing career, although he acknowledged he was often benched despite not suffering from as many injuries as the Swede has.

Ibrahimovic could win his fifth Scudetto in the coming weeks, with Milan holding a slight advantage over Inter, Napoli, and Juventus at the Serie A summit, but has started just 11 of the Rossoneri's 32 league games this term.

The Sweden international, who missed out on the chance to represent his country at the 2022 World Cup after a play-off defeat to Poland last month, has impressed when he has featured in Serie A, netting eight times in 19 league appearances at a rate of 117.25 minutes per goal.

But with Ibrahimovic reportedly set to miss another batch of games after suffering a knee strain, talk has turned to whether the legendary striker could hang up his boots in the near future.

Totti, however, hopes to see the 40-year-old play on if he can continue at a high level.

"Ibra, listen to your body," Totti said. "Finish [the season] with a goal and then decide. Nobody can understand it like me, it's scary. He made history, but now it depends [on his physical condition].

"I hope he will continue as long as he feels like it, but only if his body allows him to be able to be as decisive as he always has been. 

"Ibra is a lion on and off the field. But playing 10 minutes and then stopping, spending more time in the medical room than on the pitch, being given injections, that's heavy. 

"It's been five years [since Totti's own retirement], but I remember all the sensations, and watching Ibra in the last period, I relive them, even if my situation it was a little different from his. I hadn't had any particular injuries.

"I felt I could still give my contribution, but I was quickly pushed aside. I would not wish my last year on my worst enemy. It was very heavy on a mental level.

"[It was] exhausting, because when after a life on the pitch, you do not play continuously, especially at a certain age, you are not letting your body rest, you are making it rust."

Totti scored one goal in 18 Serie A appearances during the 2016-17 season, his final campaign with the Giallorossi at the end of an incredible 25-year spell with the club, but all but one of those appearances came from the bench.

The 45-year-old registered 250 goals and 105 assists in a glittering Serie A career which saw him make 618 appearances overall, and said he would have loved to have played with Ibrahimovic.

He also believes Ibrahimovic could move into coaching at the end of his playing career, but would need to find a club capable of matching his ambitious personality.

"If they were to propose to him to be a manager, he must immediately demand clarity and transparency," Totti added. "There are two questions to ask; what should I do? And who should I do it with?

"Ibrahimovic is a brilliant man, if we had played together, with my assists, he would have scored a hundred more goals!"

Francesco Totti leapt to the defence of under-fire Roma head coach Jose Mourinho by saying the Giallorossi do not have any world-class players, while calling for time for the Portuguese to overhaul the Serie A side.

Mourinho – who arrived in the Italian capital at the start of the season – has cut a frustrated figure amid Roma's run of just three wins in nine Serie A matches.

After a 3-0 loss to Inter on Saturday condemned Roma to back-to-back losses, Mourinho snapped at a journalist and refused to answer his question in a media conference, having cancelled his pre-match news conference.

Mourinho has also been critical of recruitment, the former Tottenham, Manchester United, Chelsea, Real Madrid and Inter boss determined to bolster his Roma squad in January.

As pressure mounts with Roma sitting seventh in the standings and nine points adrift of the Champions League places, club great Totti showed his support for Mourinho.

"To win you need the [right] players," said Totti, who is Roma's all-time leading appearance maker and scorer. "To win it takes an important manager. It takes a club that makes you feel at home at every level of your employment here.

"They have to be always available for everyone here but the most important thing, as we all know, if you want to win you need the players. It is a necessity, the foundation [of victory].

"I don't want to disrespect our current squad now, because it is an important squad with important players. But there are no 'champions' [world class players], and this is plain to see. Only good players who can do well in a certain context."

Roma have not won the Scudetto since 2001, while not since 2008 have they claimed silverware.

Mourinho's Roma have lost seven of their first 16 Serie A games for the first time since 2008-09.

Totti – who spent the entirety of his professional career at Roma, making 786 appearances in all competitions, scoring 307 goals and winning one Serie A title – added: "When we talk about Roma, I feel huge emotions.

"As a fan, I can say we are not in a great period but 'if you are not Roma, you don't suffer', this is our motto as we say and I guess we are used to it, to these topsy-turvy seasons.

"But I am sure the board and the gaffer [Mourinho] want to put back a smile on us fans' faces. A city like Rome deserves respect and most luminous stages than what we are watching now.

"Give them time... but not too long and hope we can see Roma back to shine at international level."

Lionel Messi will have the option to bring his long-standing association with Barcelona to an end in a matter of hours.

The 34-year-old's Camp Nou contract is set to expire on July 1, leaving him free to move on from the club where he has spent the entirety of his 17-year professional career thus far.

Fortunately for Barca, that outcome looks unlikely, with recent reports suggesting that the Argentina great is on the verge of agreeing fresh terms.

Should Messi put pen to paper on that extension, it will increase the possibility of him joining the ranks of players who spent their whole careers at just one club. 

Here, we take a look at five of football's most celebrated one-club men.

Paolo Maldini (AC Milan)

Indisputably one of the greatest defenders of all-time, Maldini made his Milan debut as a 16-year-old in 1985 and spent the next quarter of a century at San Siro, winning seven Serie A titles and five Champions Leagues.

Ryan Giggs (Manchester United)

Like Maldini, Giggs progressed from prodigious young talent to distinguished elder statesman as he represented United from 1990 to 2014. Two Champions Leagues and 13 Premier League titles sit among an astonishing 34 honours amassed by Giggs across 963 senior United appearances.

Francesco Totti (Roma)

Totti bid an emotional farewell to Roma at the end of the 2016-17 campaign after 786 competitive appearances and 307 goals – matching Maldini's record of appearing in 25 Serie A seasons.

Carles Puyol (Barcelona)

A long-time team-mate of Messi's and the captain of Pep Guardiola's mesmeric treble winners of 2008-09, Puyol won six LaLiga titles and three Champions Leagues. With 593 appearances for Barcelona to his name, the defender sits fifth on the club's all-time list behind Sergio Busquets, Andres Iniesta, Xavi, and the outright leader Messi on 778.

Matthew Le Tissier (Southampton)

A mercurial forward with a knack for scoring improbably audacious goals, Le Tissier was regularly linked with the leading lights of English football during his 1990s heyday. He remained loyal to boyhood club Southampton to cement icon status on the south coast, although a mere eight appearances for England provides a talking point about what might have been possible had he not resisted offers from bigger clubs.