Roma coach Luciano Spalletti has played down new sports director Monchi's claims of retirement for Francesco Totti.
Monchi jumped the gun when announcing Totti would be hanging up his boots last week.
"Is it right that a player declares the end of a player's career or should the player himself do it? This is tough for me to say, as I'm in the situation up to my neck," said Spalletti.
“I say to wait before criticising Monchi, because in the conference he only pointed out Totti's current contractual situation. As this this is the most important moment of his career, and he loves Roma, Francesco prefers to wait until the end of the season and stay quiet to ensure the focus is on the team.
“At least, that's what I think. As far as I can tell, you (in the media) care more about his situation than anyone else, but here we have to deal with the situations of 20 different players.
“When discussing Totti, you always end up hailing his statistics, but when a Coach chooses his line-up, it's based on today's training session, not the goals scored two years ago.
“Totti should be dealt with by the President. If he wanted to, he could come out and sort everything. If a member of his entourage doesn't talk either, it means he'll wait until the end of the season because that is his idea. Monchi said nothing that wasn't already known."
Source: tribalfootball.com