Serie A comeback offers and physical preparation

Former AS Roma captain Francesco Totti considered proposals to return to active professional football in 2023 at the age of 48. The interest arose after Totti made lighthearted remarks in media interviews stating he felt ready to play again, prompting direct inquiries from Serie A clubs. Genoa, managed by his former 2006 World Cup teammate Alberto Gilardino, initiated discussions and followed up with direct messages to assess his availability. Totti took the proposition seriously, stepping up his training routine by complementing his weekly Monday eight-a-side matches with three gym workouts, two physiotherapy sessions, and a strict diet that cut out bread and sweets. Como, under manager Cesc Fabregas, subsequently approached him with another formal inquiry. Despite feeling physically capable and admiring Genoa's home stadium at Marassi, Totti ultimately rejected both offers because he considered playing for any Serie A side other than Roma an unacceptable sporting betrayal.

Private life, new romance, and divorce boundaries

In the autobiography Oltre, released on 22 September 2026 by Cairo Editore and co-written with Alessandro Alciato, Totti addresses his personal relationships since leaving Roma after his final match on 29 May 2017. He describes his relationship with flower designer Noemi Bocchi, recalling how they initially swapped phone numbers before sharing their first kiss in an automobile near Piazza del Popolo in Rome. Totti compared his nervousness during that evening encounter to the pressure of taking his decisive stoppage-time penalty against Australia at the 2006 World Cup. In contrast, references to his former wife Ilary Blasi appear sparingly across the pages, covering episodes such as his period of depression and their bouts with Covid-19. Totti explains that formal legal stipulations and a desire to maintain family peace prevented him from providing extensive accounts of their divorce.

“Under legal agreements I cannot go further, and for a quiet life I do not want to.”

Coping with marital breakdown and family loss

Reflecting on the conclusion of his twenty-year relationship and seventeen-year marriage with Blasi, Totti acknowledges shared responsibility for the separation while affirming that she will always remain the mother of their children. The book also details his difficult emotional state following his departure from professional football, noting that Blasi urged him to leave the house during his depression, which he initially perceived as an attempt to push him out. The memoir devotes its most poignant passages to the loss of his father, Lorenzo Totti, known as Enzo, who died on 12 October 2020 at the age of 76 at Spallanzani hospital in Rome due to Covid-19 complications. Totti recounts receiving the telephone call from the hospital physician delivering the fatal diagnosis, recalling that the news caused his entire world to collapse. Arriving shortly before his 50th birthday on 27 September 2026, the publication follows his 2018 memoir Un Capitano.

“We both made mistakes, Ilary and I, and then we could no longer find each other.”