Driven out of his boyhood club Roma, Alessandro Florenzi is now "someone else's hero"

The red and yellows of Rome are a bit strange. It's a club that's definitely one of the biggest in Italy, but still not quite as big as Milan, Juventus or Inter. It's a club that has a big fanbase but isn't a club that wins trophies regularly. Clubs like that need something special to capture the imagination of their fans. They need heroes.

Just like Liverpool needed the likes of Steven Gerrard in the time when titles were few, just like Barcelona needed Xavi back, just like Borussia Dortmund have to hold on to Erling Haaland – that's the way Roma should have stuck with Francesco Totti, Daniele De Rossi - and Alessandro Florenzi.

However, Roma directors have different ideas from those of average football fans. They have gotten rid of all three of the aforementioned players with an explanation that "Roma supporters didn't need heroes anymore".

Sunday, 22.45: (2.70) Milan (3.25) Juventus (2.85)

Officially still a Roma player, the 30-year-old winger Florenzi was sent out on loans to Valencia, Paris Saint-Germain and now Milan. He's clearly unwanted by the club he still supports, but he's a professional and has to act as such – even when it's not easy.

"Of course, I miss Roma, because it is still part of me. It was and always will be the team I supported since I was a child and I gave everything for this club. The moment I realised that we were going our different ways was when they told me Roma supporters didn’t need heroes anymore. I watched in succession the farewells of De Rossi and Totti, so I realised it was my turn. I did it trying to create as few problems as possible for the club, behaving as an exemplary professional. I accepted the situation and moved forward."

Totti had retired to avoid having to play for another club, De Rossi moved to Boca Juniors to be as far away as possible from the possibility of having to play against Roma, but Florenzi was too young to give up on playing at the highest level in Europe. He simply had to accept the reality.

But where does it leave Roma? Why do they keep treating fan favourites like dirt? And what does it mean for their current captain Lorenzo Pellegrini, who has a lot in common with the three players who were deemed expendable?

Someone at that club should consider that characters like Florenzi, players who love the club and feel like a part of it shouldn't be banished so easily.