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Kevin Strootman: I'll be at Roma for a long time and want to win trophies

Kevin Strootman has said he is staying at Roma "for a long time" and thanked the club for their patience during his past injury problems.

Strootman, linked with Manchester United last year, extended his contract until 2022 at the end of last season.

The midfielder told Sky Sport Italia he was targeting trophies and said: "I only extended my contract recently and I am staying here for a long time.

"I'll always be grateful to the club for having been patient with me."

Strootman, 28, has avoided serious injury problems for the past two years and said he wanted to help the next generation of Roma players to come through.

"All I know is that I'm feeling a bit older now because I'm playing with lads born in 2000, but I want to help the youngsters and keep giving my best and this doesn't change with age," he added.

"I have a bond [with Roma] which you can't put into words. You've got to play here or be a Roma fan to understand it.

"I didn't renew my contract here just for the sake of it -- I did it because I want to win something in the next five years that I am here because everybody says how special it is, but we need to improve if we want to do that.

"You can never say never in football and maybe one day Roma prefer to make money from selling me, but I'm very happy playing at Roma and they were patient with and supported me after my injuries and, at this moment, I don't even want to think about going to play somewhere else.

"We've got a strong group of players, but so too do Inter and Lazio. Napoli and Juve are a cut above, but we're fighting for third place.

"If things don't go well, we'll take fourth, but a club like Roma have got to be in the Champions League."

Meanwhile, Strootman said it was odd to see club legend Francesco Totti, now a director, wearing a suit rather than a playing kit.

"He's always with us in the dressing room at Trigoria [training centre], but I still struggle to believe that we won't see him on the field again," he said.

"It's strange to see him in a suit because in the past, he used to hate it and would never wear one.

"Totti is Roma and this will not change. He's got to spend all of his life here."