Roma legend Francesco Totti playing final season for club

Francesco Totti, an icon as synonymous with Roma as its colours of imperial purple and golden yellow, is playing his final season for the club, new sporting director Monchi confirmed Wednesday.

"I already knew that he had this agreement with the club (to become a director) and that this was going to be his last year as a player before starting as a director," Monchi said of the one-club man, according to ESPN FC's Ben Gladwell.

"Francesco is Roma and I'm going to ask him to be close to me. Even if I can only learn one percent of what he knows, that is already a lot."

Totti, 40, is a such a unique figure that the term "legend" doesn't befit someone of his standing for the Giallorossi. Since making his debut under Vujadin Boskov in 1993, he has gone on to amass 783 professional appearances for Roma, scoring 307 goals and crafting 197 assists. His tactical intelligence and sublime technical ability saw him adopt various positions for the capital outfit with great aplomb, popularising the usage of false nines and second strikers, and reviving more classic positions such as an old-fashioned No. 10, or smartly gliding in from the wing to adopt a slot harking back to an inside-forward. In his later years, Totti often spearheaded Roma's attack.

(Photo courtesy: Action Images)

He inherited the captain's armband at Roma in 1998 - two months before Monaco stud Kylian Mbappe was born - and won the Serie A title in 2001 and the Coppa Italia in 2007 and 2008. His last goal in the Champions League came against CSKA Moscow in November 2014, which made him the oldest-ever goalscorer in the competition at 38 years and 59 days.

During his time in the senior setup at the Stadio Olimpico, Totti was present for 18 separate managerial regimes, and counted club Hall of Fame members Giuseppe Giannini, Aldair, Damiano Tommasi, Cafu, Vincent Candela, Vincenzo Montella, and Gabriel Batistuta as teammates.

Despite vying for international selection with the likes of Roberto Baggio, Alessandro Del Piero, Filippo Inzaghi, and Christian Vieri up front over his storied career, Totti still won 58 Italy caps after representing his country at every from level from Under-15. He started in the final of the Azzurri's victorious 2006 World Cup campaign.

His last match is set for May 28, when Genoa travels to Roma's cavernous old home.