25 years since the debut of 'Il Capitano'

On a normal March day back in 1993, Francesco Totti realised his life's ambition by pulling on a Roma shirt for the firt time. It is a moment that neither he, nor any of the fans in attendance that day will ever forget.

Totti is part of Italian footballing royalty and one particularly wonderful stat from 'Opta' that emerged last season was that when Totti made his debut, some 32% of Serie A players during the 2016/17 season hadn't been born.

Whilst Totti may have only played seven minutes over two games during the 1992/93 season, his appearance against Brescia started something quite extraordinary.

Since that day, Totti has been a bastion of loyalty, shunning big-money offers from elsewhere with unerring regularity.

Totti was rewarded for staying with his hometown club with one 'Scudetto', two Italian Super Cups and two Coppa Italias. With regard to his stats, Totti played 59,515 minutes for Roma spread across 785 games, scoring 307 goals and laying on 127 assists.

2006/07 proved to be the most prolific season of Totti's career, as he bagged 32 goals and 13 assists in 50 games in all competitions.

Totti came on the scene before the likes of Google, Twitter and Facebook were even an idea and his retirement from the game in May 2017 brought both incredible ovations and tears. Their relationship on the pitch may be over but the love story between Totti and Roma will never end.

25 years after his debut, Totti's own words remain the best way to describe the man.