Other than being one of the finest footballers to have represented Roma, Daniele De Rossi is among the most fascinating individuals from the club’s history.
Only his long-time teammate Francesco Totti ever made more appearances for Roma than De Rossi, whose spell with the first team lasted from 2001 to 2019 and culminated with two years as captain.
Since his departure from Roma, De Rossi endured a brief spell playing for Boca Juniors and has moved into coaching, although his first managerial role with SPAL didn’t last long.
In July 2023, De Rossi celebrated his 40th birthday. As a new decade of his life begins, it seems an appropriate time to look back on the wide range of people he has had an impact on.
In celebration of his 40 years, here are 40 quotes from players, coaches, club officials and journalists about a boy from Rome who lived the dream.
Players
“Daniele is the protagonist of this team. He is a player of the highest quality. I know he’s very attached to the shirt and the city.”
Simone Perrotta, 2012
“He can go through a difficult time, but as a player he remains a serious professional.”
Leandro Greco, 2012
“Daniele is crucial for the defence. He makes everything easy for me. Tactically, he’s perfect. He covers when a centre-back steps out and, as a defender, he’s someone you always love to play behind. When he drops into defence, you can see he’s naturally very good at helping the backline and watching him, I learn a lot about how to defend too. I’m a big fan.”
Leandro Castan, 2015
“De Rossi was my idol as a child and I still have incredible respect and admiration for him. To make my senior Italy debut by his side was just wonderful.”
Lorenzo Pellegrini, 2017
“He’s always been an example for me. I’d hoped to emulate his kind of career.”
Maxime Gonalons, 2017
“De Rossi helped me a lot when I arrived. He gives me advice during training, if there’s something I don’t understand he’ll explain it to me, he’s sort of like an intermediary between me and the coach during our tactical sessions.”
Steven Nzonzi, 2018
“A great man before being a great footballer.”
Radja Nainggolan, 2019
“You have been and always will be my brother.”
Francesco Totti, 2019
“I’m lucky I got to play with him and Francesco Totti, football was very generous with me.”
Diego Perotti, 2019
“When I heard him talk, the emotion he put to us, I thought, ‘he’s good!’ I’ve come across so many people in my life, but I don’t know anyone as enthusiastic about a team like he is.”
Aleksandar Kolarov, 2019
“He made many sacrifices for his team. I would like to thank him. He is one of the best of which I have played with.”
Mohamed Salah, 2019
“He’s a complete midfielder and can play beautiful football, but when he needs to make his presence felt, he does that too.”
Leandro Paredes, 2019
“He is an extraordinary person.”
Valerio Verre, 2019
“I admire him very much. Staying at one club for so many years is not easy, many things can happen, both good and bad.”
Claudio Marchisio, 2019
“De Rossi, in addition to being a great player, is a leader who enchants you when he speaks. There are few around like him.”
Ubaldo Righetti, 2019
“Daniele was born a leader. He’s a leader both in the national team and at Roma. I’m talking about Daniele at Roma when he was 30, but he was already a leader when I played against them and he was 22-23 years old.”
Federico Balzaretti, 2020
“A lot of people in football say things publicly, but they never really come to you personally. De Rossi really wanted to know how I felt. This guy was a club icon. A legend. When I came into the dressing room for the first time, just seeing him made me feel like I was a nervous little kid. But in my toughest moment, De Rossi cared about me as a human being. He wanted to understand.”
Antonio Rudiger, 2021
“De Rossi was my idol and in fact I wear the number 16 in his honour.”
Davide Frattesi, 2021
“In 20 years I’ve never seen someone so attached to Roma. I’ve seen him cry after a derby loss. Did Totti care about Roma? De Rossi 100 times more. Totti is a Romanista, De Rossi more so. If you cut him, the blood will come out as a Romanista.”
Antonio Cassano, 2021
“He has everything to become a great coach. And when I say everything, I’m not just talking about the basics in football, I talk about empathy too.”
Alessandro Florenzi, 2021
“Daniele was always a point of reference for me. He would always lead the team, always said the right things at the right time. He knew how to motivate you.”
Stephan El Shaarawy, 2022
Coaches
“He is a force of nature. You will see that he will become one of the best midfielders in the world.”
Luciano Spalletti, 2005
“He is one of the best midfielders in the world. He is at the level of (Frank) Lampard and (Steven) Gerrard.”
Marcello Lippi, 2008
“As a Roman, a former player and former coach of the Giallorossi, my point of view is that De Rossi cannot leave Rome. Daniele cannot go. Alongside Totti he is part of the team and a symbol of the city. Now, beyond the affection I feel for Daniele, we all know that we are talking about a great player.”
Carlo Mazzone, 2012
“I don’t want to stop seeing him wear the Roma shirt. (Andrea) Pirlo and Daniele are the two strongest midfielders.”
Ezio Sella, 2012
“Daniele De Rossi isn’t only a big player, but he’s also a big man.”
Rudi Garcia, 2013
“He was one of the cornerstones of the team. He has been, and continues to be, an element that makes the difference. With his technical and personality skills he dragged the team along. He was really strong.”
Marco Domenichini, 2015
“He was one of the first truly modern Italian midfielders. He played the role with unique characteristics, as a former striker. He was able to recover many balls and replay them with the same quality.”
Cesare Prandelli, 2018
“He’s a coach on the pitch, he reasons without an ego and for the good of the team. These are the leaders we want as coaches.”
Claudio Ranieri, 2019
“At the time he was a young boy, he had outstanding leadership and Roman skills if we can call it that, he already had a loving relationship with the city and with the yellow and red shirt. You could see that he had important characteristics in the middle of the field to be able to take on responsibilities. He represented, together with Francesco Totti, the Roman spirit. He has what everyone would like to have, belonging to a shirt, to a city.”
Luigi Delneri, 2019
“After having given him his debut, I warned everyone that this player was not going to budge from Roma. He proved his character as a real leader from the very beginning.”
Fabio Capello, 2020
Club officials
“Daniele is a Roman and a Romanista 100 per cent, a great player, an international and a great figurehead for us.”
Thomas DiBenedetto, 2011
“From his debut in 2001 to taking on the responsibility of the captain’s armband, he always represented the Roma fans on the pitch with pride as he established himself as one of the best midfielders in Europe.”
James Pallotta, 2019
“I think a small piece of Romanism will leave with Daniele, which makes fans of the Giallorossi a bit sad. There is something to be said about being born in Rome and playing for your team in your city. Obviously the club makes its decisions, but the most important players in the team aren’t just players: they represent something more for all supporters of the Giallorossi.”
Rosella Sensi, 2019
“I’m in love with him because he’s in love with football.”
Walter Sabatini, 2022
Journalists
“De Rossi was a more human champion than Totti, rightly considered a divinity of this sport. I believe that this more human dimension of De Rossi has brought him even closer to people’s hearts over the years.”
Checco Oddo Casano, 2019
“De Rossi was one of the greatest midfielders in the world, one who has always shown a great attachment to the shirt, perhaps not understood by everyone. He has always defended the yellow and red colours both on and off the pitch.”
Salvatore D’Arminio, 2019
“De Rossi is the face, the eyes of Roma and, so much, our words. Daniele De Rossi spoke for us. Daniele De Rossi was our pride in everything.”
Tonino Cagnucci, 2019
“When you consider the spirit of De Rossi, the person behind the player, well, there’s your answer. He is the player most representative of Roma fans.”
James Horncastle, 2019
“You have always expressed yourself as every fan would have liked to hear a Roma player speak. Going through two decades and many generations. Able to embody that delicate and tumultuous interweaving of feelings. Without ever betraying them. You have withstood time and wounds. You have sublimated the memories of 615 battles and carved an immortal place in the history of the club.”
Angelo Mangiante, 2019
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