Italy World Cup winner urges Totti to become Roma’s Maldini | OneFootball

Italy’s 2006 World Cup winner Luca Toni has told his old teammate Francesco Totti that he should take inspiration from Paolo Maldini’s return to Milan in an executive role and come back to Roma ‘when he’s ready to make a difference’.

The return of Totti in some capacity has been a hot topic in recent weeks, as the 48-year-old recently declared that he would be prepared, mentally and physically, to return to Serie A if the right opportunity came about.

While Totti feels he still has something to offer on the pitch, others suggest that he still has a role to play behind the scenes, or on the training pitch.

Toni tells Totti to become Roma’s Maldini

Toni, who played with Totti for both Roma and Italy, said that he has recently spoken about a return to the Stadio Olimpico with the former Giallorossi captain.

“I spoke about it with Francesco a little while ago. He’s completely in love with Roma, but we’ll have to wait and see what he can and wants to do,” Toni said in a recent interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport.

“Totti is part of history, he has to return to Roma when he’s ready to make a difference, like Maldini did at Milan. Paolo waited a long time, but then he made his mark and won the Scudetto.”

Maldini retired as a player in 2009 and left it nine years before returning to San Siro as a sporting director. He was then promoted to technical director the following year. The Rossoneri then won their first Serie A title in 2021-22, ending an 11-year spell without a league trophy.