Former Inter and Italy defender Davide Santon has announced his retirement from playing at the age of 31 due to persistent injury issues.
The full-back had spent the past four seasons with Roma but failed to make a single appearance under Jose Mourinho in the 2021-22 campaign.
Between 2009 to 2013, he got to play for Italy.
And was a two-time Scudetto winner with Inter during the first two spells with the club.
Injuries ultimately took their toll on the defender, who announced his playing days are over in an interview with Tuttomercato published on Friday.
He said:
“I’m forced to stop playing.
“Not for not having had offers, not for anything else.
“But because my body, with so many injuries in the past, can’t take it anymore.
“I didn’t want to do this, but I have to.
“I had endless tests and consultations, but nothing was to be done.
“And I can still walk, but that’s not enough to be a professional athlete.
“If I kept pushing, I’d risk needing a prosthesis. The left knee is good. It stops me from doing lots of things.
“The right knee, that had surgery three times, removing cartilage, the entire external meniscus, so as soon as I strain it even a little bit, it swells up and can’t bend.
“All my injuries came from there because if the right knee can’t bend, you put more strain on the left and the flexor.
“If you play one match, you risk being out of action for the next five.”
Santon made just 42 Serie A appearances across four seasons with Roma.
Some accused it of turning down moves elsewhere to continue picking up an easy wage at Stadio Olimpico.
Responding to those claims, Santon said:
“I didn’t turn anyone down. I was never going to pass a medical.”
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