Roma face Cardiff in first pre-season friendly tomorrow at 4pm

Francesco Totti has announced a new book titled 'Oltre', written with journalist Alessandro Alciato, following his 2018 autobiography 'Un Capitano'. The former Roma captain revealed the news via social media, with pre-orders beginning today and the book arriving in bookshops on 22 September. Totti said of the project: "Much has always been known about me. But not everything. In 'Oltre' I have told what I had kept to myself until now—my truths, without filters." The new volume marks Totti's latest project as he remains in discussions about a potential return to the club for its 2027 centenary celebrations.

Walter Sabatini, the former Roma executive now working as a consultant for Pro Patria, has reflected on his career at the club in an interview with Corriere della Sera. On his time in the game, Sabatini said: "At Roma. It's my life, don't make me say anything else because I've developed a complex about being a boring man." Sabatini also addressed the current state of Italian football and Roma's standing. Discussing which club has the strongest squad values at present, he observed: "There is great euphoria in the Roma environment. A spiritual cohesion that makes everyone feel unbeatable. But in terms of squad quality and depth of choices, Inter are a step above everyone else." Sabatini commented on the prospect of working alongside Gasperini, the current Roma head coach, though he did not elaborate on the specifics of that assessment beyond the headline suggestion that collaboration between them would have led to friction.

Walter Sabatini, the legendary former Roma sporting director, has returned to football as a consultant at Pro Patria, the club where he finished his playing career 43 years ago. In an interview with Corriere della Sera, the 71-year-old reflected on his decision to re-enter the game and his enduring connection to Roma, where he recruited champions including Nainggolan, Dzeko, Pastore, Ilicic and Kolarov. Asked where he left his heart, Sabatini answered without hesitation: "Roma. It is my life, do not make me say anything else because I have developed a complex about being a boring man." On the prospect of working under Roma's current coach Gian Piero Gasperini, however, he was candid: "No. I have great admiration for his work as a coach but I would have come into collision course." Despite his age and health challenges, Sabatini said he feels the enthusiasm of his early days in the game. "Inside I feel the excitement of when I started working for Triestina and I was 39 years old," he said. "I would like to return to that phase of my life and create my own football laboratory." He acknowledged struggling at Pro Patria, where his dynamic ideas are not accommodated: "I need agility and speed. I am not hiding that I am finding myself uncomfortable and I do not want to waste my last years. I have entered the third, perhaps the fourth age." On evaluating talent, Sabatini insisted on trusting his eye rather than data analytics. "When I see a player I must feel something immediately at the first meeting. He must strike me like lightning. The only metric of evaluation I conceive is the eye, sensitivity, passion." Asked which player now moves him, he singled out Paulo Dybala: "A residual champion of our championship. In the Nineties we had Ronaldo, Platini, Rummenigge. Now of that lineage of phenomena, there is only Paulo in Serie A." He praised Como's Champions League debut display, saying the team displayed "a high level match proposing entertaining football and exalting its individuals." On the balance of power in Serie A, Sabatini noted that while "there is great euphoria in the Roma environment. A spiritual cohesion that makes everyone feel unbeatable," Inter stood above all others: "For the quality of the squad and depth of choices, Inter is a step above everyone." Sabatini expressed regret about his brief spell at Inter, saying he had been "a meteor—the inhabitants of the Earth did not even see me pass." He attributed the Nerazzurri's current strength to Chivu's pragmatism. Of himself, he reflected: "I am bulimic of life. A pity that my skeletal system does not assist my will. Every now and then I think back to my career and say to myself 'but you were an acrobat, not a sporting director'."