AS Roma coach Claudio Ranieri admits he would've kept hold of Daniele de Rossi.

Like Ranieri, De Rossi will leave at the end of the season after Roma decided against offering him new terms.

The coach said: "What would I have done? I am a coach. If I had been asked as a coach what to do with De Rossi, I would have said that I want him, because I know what player he is and what a man he is. What a captain he is.

"We always talk about leaders, there are various types: social media, newspapers, etc. Daniele is a coach on the pitch, he is the man with whom you can talk and he thinks with a collective mentality, not thinking about his personal return. This is what every coach wants."