Football
Ben Gladwell, Italy correspondent 8y

Francesco Totti denies claims Roma contract talks have stalled over money

Roma captain Francesco Totti has rubbished claims his bid for a new contract with the club may collapse due to his wage demands.

Several reports circulated in the Italian media on Monday claiming that the 39-year-old is asking too much to play on for another season,

However, Totti wrote a statement on his official website saying there was no truth to the stories.

"It surprises me to read about economic problems between myself and Roma in terms of my future relationship with the club," he wrote. "There is no truth behind it and I've never spoken about this issue."

Totti posted that message before once again making a major contribution to a Roma win on Monday, scoring the equaliser as the Giallorossi came from behind to win 3-2 at Genoa.

That goal, his fourth goal in his last four games, helped him draw 74 percent of the votes in favour for him being called up to Italy's Euro 2016 squad in a poll on La Gazzetta dello Sport's website.

"Once again tonight he's done things that only he is capable of doing," Roma coach Luciano Spalletti told Sky Sport Italia. "He's already done it before, he's got this magic, this quality in his right foot -- and he's got a good left foot too."

Speaking to Mediaset, Spalletti had even more praise for his club captain, who now looks increasingly likely to be offered a new deal.

"[Goalkeeper Wojciech] Szczesny has asked me to remind you that he made a save which denied them a goal because he was worried that as soon as Totti came on, everybody would only be talking about him," Spalletti said.

"Totti has done some important things for us in recent games and he always wants to make a contribution, and he's done that again against Genoa. He's got to do this because he knows how to do it.

"I agree with you -- for me Totti is a diamond which you cannot wear every single day, but only on special occasions. Is he 24 carat? I'd say he's more than that. I've already said everything to the president that from the day I arrived here so you'll have to ask [James] Pallotta [about Totti's contract].

"I'm on the side of all of my players. If Totti extends his playing career, I would be delighted. If he gets to continue what he loves doing, then I'd be happy and I would back him."

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