Roma legend, Francesco Totti, has claimed Lionel Messi wouldn’t have won eight Ballon d’Or awards if he spent his entire career with the Serie A side.

Totti spent all his 25-year playing career with the Italian club.

In his autobiography titled ‘Gladiator’, he has revealed that Real Madrid president Florentino Perez wanted to make him the world’s highest-paid player in 2001.

But his love for the city of Rome and the club stopped him from making the switch to Spain.

Speaking on the Viva El Futbol podcast, Totti said: “I never thought about playing for another team. It wouldn’t have made sense.

“Only [Paolo] Maldini and I played 25 years with the same club.”

Totti also spoke about Messi, adding: “But do you really think that if Messi had spent 25 years at Roma with [Alessandro] Frau, Cesar Gomez, and [Matteo] Pivotto, he would have won all those Ballon d’Ors?”

https://dailypost.ng/2025/03/06/messi-wouldnt-have-won-eight-ballon-dor-awards-with-us-roma-legend-totti/