Reports: Totti to be Offered New Playing Contract

Well, it appears as though Francesco Totti's heroics over the past few weeks haven't gone unnoticed, or at the very least, management has (reportedly) seen the light. Multiple media outlets have picked up on a report from La Gazzetta dello Sport and/or Calciomercato indicating the club and Totti will "make an announcement" in the coming days, presumably about Totti's future.

While the source of this rumor is a roughly translated online piece precipitated only by a rather vague announcement from club bureaucrat Mauro Baldissoni that said simply "Francesco and the owner {Pallotta} will officially announce something in the coming days", we're still going to party like it's 1999 (RIP, Prince).

However vague that proclamation may be, the timing of this announcement is, shall we say, rather convenient. Aside from Totti's last gasp heroics over the past four matches, season tickets for the 2016-2017 campaign go on sale next week. So with the tide of public opinion overwhelmingly in Totti's favor, and more importantly with the quality and cruciality (that's a word, right?) of Totti's play lately, it appears as though the management has seen the error of their ways, not to mention the potential hit to their bottom line, and will offer Totti a new one-year contract.

Now, we're miles away from officially celebrating Totti's 2017 swan song, but where there's smoke, there's fire, and this is certainly a welcome development. So we'll save the finer points of the deal and the tactical and personnel implications for a later day if/when this new contract becomes official.

In the meantime, keep your fingers crossed.