Diego Perotti describes playing with Roma legend Francesco Totti as “a pleasure” but Juan Riquelme is his idol.
The winger joined the Giallorossi from Genoa last January, and spoke to the club’s official website about his career so far.
“When I started playing, Juan Roman Riquelme was my favourite player and the guy I tried to learn from,” Perotti explained.
“I was a big fan when I was young – he was playing at Boca at the time and went on to have great success.
Diego Perotti describes playing with Roma legend Francesco Totti as “a pleasure” but Juan Riquelme is his idol.
The winger joined the Giallorossi from Genoa last January, and spoke to the club’s official website about his career so far.
“When I started playing, Juan Roman Riquelme was my favourite player and the guy I tried to learn from,” Perotti explained.
“I was a big fan when I was young – he was playing at Boca at the time and went on to have great success.
“I followed his career when he played in Europe too, at Barcelona and Villarreal, who he reached the Champions League semi-finals with.
“For me, he was always the best around.
“[At first] I played in the same position as my idol Riquelme. I wanted to be exactly like him. In Argentina we call that position the enganche – it means the player in the hole behind the strikers
“Who is the best I’ve played with? I could give you loads of names. I’ve been lucky enough to play and train with Riquelme, though we didn’t actually spend too much time on the pitch together due to injuries.
“Now I have the pleasure of sharing a field with Francesco Totti, the most important player in the history of Roma.
“From my Sevilla days I’d say Frederic Kanoute and Luis Fabiano, two strikers who found the net basically every time I passed to them.”