Timeline: The Chris Smalling story so far!

But what happened in the years that preceded Smalling’s move to Rome and what shaped the 30-year-old centre back into both the man and player that he is today?

NOVEMBER 1989

Christopher Lloyd Smalling entered the world in late November 1989 and he and younger brother Jason would be introduced to football by his mother, Theresa, at Walderslade Boys soon after the tragic death of his father, Lloyd, when Smalling was just five years old.

To this day, Smalling pays remembrance to his father in his pre-match rituals.

"I have a collage of pictures of my dad holding my brother and me,” Smalling told BBC Sport.

"I look at that before every game just to remind me about having no fear or regrets and to go out and enjoy the moment, because I know how precious life is.”

NOVEMBER 2007

Having been released by his first professional club, Millwall, in 2004, 17-year-old Smalling was plying his trade in non-league at Maidstone United and it looked as though his professional football dreams may never come true.

But wider attention would come Smalling’s way when he was successfully put forward by his school - Chatham Grammar - for England Schoolboy trials just two weeks before his 18th birthday.

JANUARY 2008

On 29 January, Smalling made his England Schoolboys debut, earning a clean sheet in the 2-0 win over Australia at Shrewsbury’s New Meadow.

His A-Level exams followed that spring and a university place at either Loughborough or Leicester to study financial economics was more forefront in his mind than pro-terms.

“Even when I was at Maidstone, and playing for England Schoolboys, I was thinking more about universities,” Smalling told asroma.com. “I was focused on doing well at school.”

APRIL 2008

All that changed just months later as Smalling signed a two-year contract with English Premier League outfit Middlesbrough.

It took Smalling from the depth of England’s seventh-tier to the heights of the top-flight in one fell swoop but he would stay only two months in north Yorkshire before moving to Fulham.

“I was very lucky with Middlesbrough, I went there and loved it and wanted to be there,” he explained.

“But then I had the chance to go to Fulham, and… suddenly I had a choice, when before I had had no choices.”

MAY 2009

A year into life at Craven Cottage, 19-year-old Smalling was named reserve team captain and had made his professional debut.

“I made my debut in the last game of the season (against Everton), in a year when I think we finished seventh and qualified for the Europa League,” said Smalling.

“That was crucial, because we had more games the following season so I had my chances to play for the first team too.”

JANUARY 2010

Opportunities would indeed soon come Smalling’s way, but he would have to wait until the turn of the New Year before stamping his authority on the side.

And a day prior to his second Premier League match, English heavyweights Manchester United agreed a deal for Smalling, a move the Londoner described as being “surreal” at the time.

“Roy [Hodgson] called me over at the front of the bus. He said, ‘Manchester United have made a bid for you. Which will be accepted – Sir Alex Ferguson is going to be at your hotel room in 40 minutes’. I was like: 'Great. Wow. Okay.”

AUGUST 2010

Smalling would start as he meant to go on at United, winning the FA Community Shield with a 3-1 win over Chelsea in his first appearance for the club and he would end his first season a Premier League winner.

Smalling would go on to help fill the enormous shoes of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic at Old Trafford, and lift another Premier League trophy, two more Community Shields, the League Cup (where he was captain on the day) and the UEFA Europa League.

“That first Premier League title in the first season, I thought about a lot of the setbacks I had when I was younger, everything it took to get there and achieve that. It is the dream for so many youngsters so to do it was a major highlight,” he recalled.

NOVEMBER 2010

The 2010-11 season was a truly special one for Smalling and on 13 November 2010 he was called up to the senior England side for the first time against France.

He would make his full international debut against Bulgaria in September the following year, and went on to be named in both England’s 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2016 UEFA European Championship squads.

In total, Smalling has 31 England caps, one goal and captained his country, with his last appearance coming against rivals Scotland in October 2017.

JUNE 2017

The first signs of a love-affair with Italy come to the fore as he and partner Sam get married in Lake Como in Lombardy and Smalling clearly reaps the benefits of married life, attributing adopting his wife’s veganism with a faster injury recovery process.

Smalling would be described as being at the fore of “the new vanguard of veganism in sport” as the defender began using his voice to take more and more social action.

A year later he would become a patron for Football Beyond Borders, and said in his interview with AS Roma: “Having a platform and a voice means I’ve been able to enhance projects I want to help, and hopefully others in the future too.”

MAY 2019

Chris and Sam would welcome their son, Leo Asher Smalling, into the world in May, kickstarting new adventures both on and off the pitch for the pair, while reaffirming Smalling’s desire to have a greater societal impact on the world.

“Now I have a little boy of my own, you want him to be proud of his dad – not just of what he’s done as a footballer but those other things he’s done and choices he made.”

AUGUST 2019

One of those choices was to move to Rome, when Roma came calling for a season-long loan deal last summer - and it’s proven to be an astute one.

It was a natural fit from the off, with Smalling’s transfer announcement coinciding with the club’s missing children campaign and the Englishman immediately became a senior figure at Roma.

NOVEMBER 2019

Just four months into his Rome adventure, Smalling becomes the first Englishman to score for the club and is handed the captain’s armband by Edin Dzeko for the final 18 minutes of the 3-0 win at Istanbul Basaksehir in the Europa League, cementing his sudden importance at the club.

“I take pride in how I look after myself off the pitch, as I know there are young lads at the club that will look at me. I’ve enjoyed that transition to slowly becoming that senior character. It’s nice.”

JULY 2020

Having already given fans young and old once in a lifetime experiences through surprise meetings, Smalling extends his stay to the end of the Serie A season.

Already a fan favourite for both his performances on the pitch and nature off it, Smalling also auctions off his boots and match shirt in support of COVID-19 relief efforts and the fight against racism.

“I think we are on a journey, it’s just how quickly we can get there.”

OCTOBER 2020

After a long summer pursuit, Roma landed their man on the final day of the transfer window by sealing Smalling’s return on a permanent deal that runs until 30 June 2023.

“Nothing in life worth having comes easy,” said Smalling said. “My head and my heart has always been in Rome. I am delighted to now be yours. Daje Roma!”