AS Roma have announced an agreement with Daniele De Rossi over a new contract. The negotiations have been going for many months and his current deal expires at the end of the season, so technically De Rossi could already sign for another club on a free transfer.

"We reached the agreement during the week, but didn't want to distract from the game against Inter," confirmed director Franco Baldini.

"I apologise to all those members of staff who had to deny a deal had been reached, as it would've been inopportune to talk about it before the match. There is an agreement with De Rossi and there will be a press conference tomorrow to explain the details.

"There were difficulties in completing the talks because we were no longer technically the club in charge, as he was free to sign for whoever he wanted. We are happy that we're the team he wanted to sign for and that says a lot about his intentions.

"Obviously De Rossi is a crucial player and when the terms of the agreement are revealed, you'll see we made great efforts to keep him here."