Report: Daniele De Rossi still thinking about US move, just not this year...probably not next year either

Sebastian Giovinco is already in MLS. Recently, Antonio Di Natale mentioned he had an offer from "New York" among those he is considering for a rumored end-of-season move away from current club Udinese. Today it's Daniele De Rossi who is casually tossing around the idea of moving to the USA. Serie A appears to be under threat of a mass emigration.

Or not. De Rossi's comments came in the context of a gentle interview with Roma TV, in which he chatted amiably about his career and, of course, his plans for the future.

At the forefront of those plans: winning Serie A. De Rossi expressed confidence in current AS Roma head coach Rudi Garcia, as one might expect, saying he thought the coach would lead the club to a title, "if not this year, then next." Roma is currently five points behind Juventus in the Serie A table, and De Rossi is hoping that gap gets no wider before the teams meet Stadio Olimpico on March 2.

De Rossi is from Rome and has never played professionally for any club other than Roma; so he is understandably invested in bringing the team its first league title since the 2000-01 season.

He is also under contract until 2017, having signed an extension back in 2012.

Still, in this latest interview, he did also say he wanted to live in America, which some outlets have chosen to give weight: "De Rossi maintains MLS dream" suggests Football Italia. Sure. We were told back in December that the Roma legend was attracting interest from MLS teams, including the New York Red Bulls.

That speculation was based largely on the observation that he's on a very big contract (somewhere in the region of $12 million per year, we're told) and if coach Garcia isn't minded to make him an everyday starter, then it would likely suit Roma to let him move on.

But De Rossi has started three of Roma's last four games (and scored the extra-time winner in the team's Coppa Italia victory over Empoli on January 20).

It is of course still possible De Rossi will be encouraged to make a move at the end of the season. And if that is the case, the USA - and by extension MLS - should be considered high on his list. When or if De Rossi moves on from Roma, be assured he'll be instructing his agent to make some calls to this country. We know this because he hardly ever shuts up about it. "I would love to come to the US to play," he said in 2012; "It's a country I love," he enthused in 2013. Last year, in a New York Times profile of Jim Pallotta, the American who became Roma's club president in 2012, De Rossi used his well-known love for the USA to explain his regard for Pallotta's plans for his club's future:

"I love the United States culture and I have always wanted to live there, maybe in a big city," De Rossi said. "But it is funny: now, I will probably never live in America, and it is because of an American."

Daniele De Rossi loves America. This we know.

It doesn't, however, mean he's heading our way any time soon. He's still quite attached to the only club he's ever played for as a professional. And, as Italian Football Daily picked up on, in the same Roma TV interview that provoked his latest outburst of affection for America, he expressed an ambition to play for Argentina's Boca Juniors.

Daniele De Rossi wants to all sorts of things. And if his latest comments are to be interpreted as a statement of intent to head over to MLS sometime soon, they will need to account for his comments about Boca Juniors. He said he wanted to live in the USA; he said he wanted to play for a team in Argentina.

Right now, with Roma chasing a league title and De Rossi an active if not ever-present member of the team, it seems fair to assume he's not planning on acting on any of these impulses any time soon.

The hunt for a Red Bulls off-season transfer rumor with some staying power continues.