Former Manchester United captain Roy Keane was the inspiration behind Daniele De Rossi's decision to wear the No. 16 shirt, the Roma midfielder has revealed.
De Rossi says he had originally wanted to wear the No. 5 jersey as ex-Giallorossi player Falcao had done during his time at the club.
But while he was disappointed not to have been able to wear such a number for Roma straight away, he has no regrets about his eventual choice.
"I used to wear No. 4 and my dream was to wear No. 5 of Falcao," De Rossi said during a visit to a Roma store in Rome. "They didn't let me have it, even though it could have been rightfully mine. There's a hierarchy as to how we get the shirt numbers.
"I could then have got it after one year, but my daughter was born on July 16 and I took that number, which was also the number of Roy Keane, another of my greatest idols. So thanks to Gaia and Roy Keane, I chose 16."
Keane is not the only player who has helped define De Rossi's career, with Diego Maradona listed among the 31-year-old's favourites.
"My idols were also Rudi Voller, and then [Giuseppe] Giannini. They were those I looked up to when I was growing up," he added, before discussing who he gets on with most in the current Roma team.
"I've got on well with everybody. There's somebody new each year, but after 15 years playing football together, [Francesco] Totti has got to be the one with whom I have the strongest bond.
"We've had [Victor] Ibarbo here for the past few months and he's really nice and always smiling, then there's [Davide] Astori, [Alessandro] Florenzi. But if I have to name one then it would have to be Francesco."