Former AS Roma and Italy midfielder Daniele De Rossi has bought Ostiamare, the lowly semi-professional club where he began his career, promising to strengthen the community of the coastal Rome suburb where the team are based.

De Rossi has also been named club president of the Serie D club. "We will not be a branch of Roma ," De Rossi at the club's presentation yesterday.

Former AS Roma captain and coach Daniele De Rossi said Saturday that he was in for the long haul after becoming the owner of Ostia Mare, a minor league club in the seaside Ostia district of the capital where he grew up.

Former Roma midfielder, captain and ex-coach Daniele De Rossi has announced that he is now the new owner of Serie D side Ostia Mare, the youth team he represented before he joined Roma 25 years