AS Roma president James Pallotta has denied isolating Francesco Totti from management decisions.

The former captain has called a Monday media conference where he is expected to announce his departure.

But Pallotta insists: “Francesco was instrumental in helping us bring in Claudio Ranieri. He's also had a great input into the search for a new Coach – offering a lot of very useful advice.

“I said it in my letter a few weeks ago and it's true, some of the best input into considering different Coaches came from Francesco.

“We work as a team, we make decisions as a team, and Francesco has been part of every football decision we've made – certainly since Monchi has left.

“Everyone knows what sort of player Francesco was, so if there's anyone better at being able to judge a player we're looking at, I'd like to meet him.

“In fact, when I went for dinner with some of my staff in London on Sunday night, Franco [Baldini] was saying again how great Francesco is at judging talent.

“In fact, since the start of the year, me and Guido have been looking to find a more important role for Francesco as part of the team because he can judge talent better than any of us."