Francesco Totti played down reported differences with coach Luciano Spalletti as he sets his sights on winning a second Scudetto with Roma.
Totti on Tuesday penned a one-year extension to his expiring contract which ties him to the Giallorossi for one final season before hanging up his boots and taking on a managerial role at the Eternal City club.
Doubts were being raised about Totti's future when he spent much of the first two thirds of the season on the bench or sidelined by injury. Talks of a rift with Spalletti only fuelled speculation that Totti's career was going to come to an end prematurely, but things suddenly changed when he scored four goals in four decisive substitute appearances.
The 39-year-old captain said: "It was a situation where the fans had created a rift between the coach and me -- I wanted to silence the rumours.
"When Roma win, it's good for everyone, not just for the club and the coach," Totti said. "He brought us a great deal and got a good team back on track. That said, we did well too to adopt his style and have an excellent second half of the season.
"As I've always said, I see him as one of the best coaches in Italy. He has all the attributes you need and given that he knows Roma, he can give as a great deal. If we don't implement what he asks of us, it'll be very difficult."
Totti hopes to sign off in style by firing Roma to the Serie A title next season.
#Totti con la #Roma fino al 2017 // Totti signed a one-year playing contract. The legend to be continued... pic.twitter.com/qJ6s2aykoF
- Serie A TIM (@SerieA_TIM) June 7, 2016
"I really hope I can spend my last year celebrating with them. I hope to win my second Scudetto with Roma," he said in an interview on the club's website. "We believe. Obviously at the start of the season people draw up their predictions and it all looks very simple. We're aiming as high as possible, though we know that Juventus are better than everyone else."
The talismanic forward said he wants to go out with a bang in his 25th and final season with the club.
"That said, when I spoke to the president today he guaranteed that he will build a great Roma side and I said I believed I had a chance of winning a second Scudetto. Right now I'm going to enjoy my holidays and this contract.
"When I return, I'll be focused on the new season, as always."
Totti was a key factor in Roma's revival last season after Spalletti replaced the sacked Rudi Garcia as coach. In one match, against Torino, Totti came off the bench in the 86th minute with Roma losing 2-1 and scored twice in three minutes. That sparked a five-match winning run which helped Roma finish third in Serie A and secure Champions League football.
"If you think about what I did it's not logical -- nobody would have expected it, least of all me," Totti admitted. "Thankfully it did and I was able to contribute to the team finishing in third position. That's very important, both for me and the club. Nobody would have expected me to change matches in a couple of minutes."
Totti, who won the 2006 World Cup with Italy, has made 758 appearances for Roma, scoring 304 goals. He tops both categories in the club's all-time records.
"People always expect something a little bit different from me, but to be quite honest I would never have thought I could change the course of a game in four, seven or ten minutes. I'm glad it happened and I'll keep that with me, because it's something that will go down in Roma history."
When Totti hangs up his boots at the end of next season, he will step up to the boardroom as Roma's technical director.
"I'm delighted, because after this year as a player I have another six as a director,'' Totti said. "As I've always told the president and the club, I preferred to have a specific role such as technical director. They've agreed to that and I'm very grateful for it."
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.