Former Roma president James Pallotta insists he did all he could to satisfy the ambitions of Francesco Totti after the captain's retirement.
Totti has spoken of a bitterness towards Roma over the way he was treated after hanging up the boots
But Pallotta told the Athletic: "Totti wanted to coach after retirement. I told him that to coach not only he would have to study, but also do it for 80 hours a week, and that I didn't understand why he wanted to to do that.
"We brought him some teachers and rather quickly Totti decided that coaching was not for him. I told him that he had a good lifestyle and that the 6-year contract as a manager, which for many people was a great contract given the big money, it would have accustomed him to a slightly different lifestyle. We talked about involving him in marketing and sponsorship, in order to help us close certain deals.
"As a possible sports director he had some inputs, and we really wanted him to have some inputs as well. We have also invited him numerous times to Boston for meetings, to Nantucket, to London ..."