Andrea Ranocchia confirms he has retired after terminating his contract with Monza: ‘I have nothing more to give.’
The ex-Inter defender released two lengthy videos on social media to explain his choice and go through his career as a footballer.
The 34-year-old left Monza ‘by mutual agreement’ on Wednesday, reportedly giving up on €4m from his two-year deal with the Brianzoli.
He suffered a severe fibula injury against Napoli in August, but this is not the only reason he hung his boots.
“I am grateful to Monza who gave me this opportunity, Galliani, Antonelli, and President Berlusconi. They gave me trust, offering me a great contract and the chance to understand what was going on with me,” he said.
“Unfortunately, at the start of the year, my feelings were not good and moving forward is like something switched off. Initially, I didn’t want to accept it because football has been my passion for 30 years, and I could no longer find it.
“I always tried to put passion in every training session, but I could feel there was nothing inside me, so I started asking myself many things. Then I suffered this bad injury that would have kept me off the pitch for months.
“If you don’t have the passion and determination to come back, given that the club trusted me, I didn’t want to fool anyone. Myself in the first place,” he continued.
“That’s who I am in life. I spoke to Galliani and told him my decision. I didn’t want to go ahead because I would have paid the consequences. One has to be motivated and fit to play at the highest level and I could no longer be as such. I have nothing more to give at the moment.
“Galliani was a gentleman, he understood my moment, and we parted company as friends with great respect.
“This is all, this is my moment. Now I take some time to deal with these emotions. I don’t think I’ll play football again, it’s not what I want now. I’ll take some time to enjoy other things and then decide.”