It’s no longer a surprise, but now it’s official: Daniele de Rossi has signed a long-term contract in the Eternal City after a strong six months as Roma coach
There has been little doubt since mid-April that Daniele de Rossi would extend his contract with “his” Roma on a long-term basis. At the time, Dan and Ryan Friedkin, the club’s owners, announced in an official statement that they would be working together for a longer period of time.
“In his short tenure as head coach, the positive impact his leadership has had on the entire club has made its own history,” the US management team said at the time. “We couldn’t be happier to be building a long-term project with Daniele.”
Further details were announced for the “coming days”. In the end, it took months – but the owners kept their word. De Rossi signs a new three-year contract that, according to Italian media reports, will earn him an annual salary of 2.5 million euros, to which bonuses could be added
Refreshing, attacking football
De Rossi only took over from the sacked José Mourinho, who harshly criticized the US owners, at the beginning of the year in January – and not only got the Giallorossi back on the road to success. The refreshing, attacking soccer that Roma played under him was quickly well received by the fans.
As a player icon in Rome, de Rossi already had the fans on his side, but now he was also inspiring as a coach. Ten of the 18 Serie A games under his leadership were won, Roma collected an average of 1.89 points under de Rossi – and only narrowly missed out on Champions League qualification. If Europa League winners Atalanta Bergamo had finished fifth instead of fourth, de Rossi would have been able to experience the top flight as coach in the 2024/25 season.
But that leaves “only” the Europa League, in which de Rossi also caused a sensation with Roma (4/2/2 in eight games). Leverkusen briefly wobbled in the semi-finals, but were able to prevent an Italian final with their usual strong final spurt