Roma’s number 10 remains available in theory, but Francesco Totti has revealed how close the club came to placing it on Paulo Dybala’s shoulders in the summer of 2022. The former captain declined to take part in the proposed presentation, unwilling to become the figure responsible for a decision that belongs to the club and carries exceptional weight in the city.
Key takeaways
- Totti says Roma explored giving Dybala the number 10 when the Argentine arrived from Juventus in 2022.
- The club wanted Totti to hand over the shirt at Dybala’s official unveiling at the Colosseo Quadrato.
- Totti rejected the ceremony but stressed that he had no objection to Dybala as a player or person.
- Dybala ultimately chose number 21, a number he had also worn in his first Juventus season.
- Roma have never formally retired Totti’s number 10.
- Totti believes the shirt should be saved for a future Roman-born player capable of spending 15 or 20 years with the club.
The shirt Roma did not hand over
In his latest autobiography, Totti revisits the summer in which Dybala joined Roma after leaving Juventus. Dybala had most recently worn number 10 in Turin, inheriting a shirt strongly associated with Alessandro Del Piero, before saying goodbye to it emotionally ahead of his move to the capital.
At Roma, however, the number had not been worn since Totti’s playing career ended. Totti explains that this was not his personal instruction, but rather a feeling protected by supporters. “Since I was made to stop, nobody has worn my shirt at the club I love,” he writes, describing the fans as the true guardians of that legacy.
Roma contacted him indirectly with an idea: Dybala would receive the number 10, and Totti would present it to him during the official event at the Colosseo Quadrato. Totti’s response was emphatic. “Are you all mad?” he recalled saying.
His refusal was not a rejection of Dybala. Totti says he admires the Argentine, both professionally and personally, calling him a very good person. Nor did he claim a veto over the number. His message to the club was clear: if Roma had the courage and conviction to assign it, they could do so themselves, without involving him.
For Totti, the difficulty was the responsibility attached to the gesture. Having him hand over the shirt would have made him appear to endorse, or perhaps authorise, a choice that was not his to make. He also recognised that wearing Roma’s number 10 would immediately invite comparison with its most defining owner.
“Roma’s 10 is a heavy shirt, and it would inevitably bring comparisons with me,” Totti wrote. He added that Dybala, when fit, has the ability to make a decisive difference.
Dybala went on to select number 21, avoiding a symbolic debate before beginning a spell in which he has become an important figure for Roma. The episode nevertheless shows how a shirt number can still carry the history of a club long after its previous owner has left the pitch.
A number for the next lifelong Romanista
Totti’s position is not that Roma’s number 10 must remain untouched forever. Unlike shirts formally withdrawn elsewhere, he does not want the club to retire it permanently. In Italian football, several legendary numbers have been placed beyond use: Franco Baresi’s number 6 at Milan, Paolo Maldini’s number 3, Diego Maradona’s number 10 at Napoli, Giacinto Facchetti’s number 3 at Inter and Javier Zanetti’s number 4 are among the leading examples.
Roma themselves have shown that decisions around iconic numbers can be revisited. Aldair’s number 6 was later given to Kevin Strootman, with the Brazilian’s approval.
For Totti, permanently removing the number 10 would deny young supporters a dream. He hopes that another player can emerge who is born in Rome, raised in Rome and chooses the Giallorossi for life.
That is the standard he would apply before handing over the shirt again. A player arriving from abroad for a limited stay, before moving on elsewhere, would not be the right fit for such a symbol. Totti believes the number should go only to someone with the potential to represent Roma for 15 or 20 years.
Until that player appears, the number 10 remains neither retired nor truly ordinary: available on paper, but held in trust by the club, the supporters and the memory of its greatest captain.
