Milan's Alessio Romagnoli says his idols are Alessandro Nesta and Zinedine Zidane and remembers how he used to play as a midfielder.

The 20-year-old took up the shirt with the number 13, which used to belong to iconic defender Nesta, but he says comparisons don't weigh him down.

“I was the one who asked for this shirt, because Nesta was my idol,” he told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

“I was thinking about him, and not about the idea of adding any extra responsibility.

Milan's Alessio Romagnoli says his idols are Alessandro Nesta and Zinedine Zidane and remembers how he used to play as a midfielder.

The 20-year-old took up the shirt with the number 13, which used to belong to iconic defender Nesta, but he says comparisons don't weigh him down.

“I was the one who asked for this shirt, because Nesta was my idol,” he told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

“I was thinking about him, and not about the idea of adding any extra responsibility.

“[President Silvio] Berlusconi? I saw him in passing before Perugia, he wished me good luck."

Romagnoli then discussed his past in the youth teams and his natural inclination to play in the middle of the pitch.

“As a child I wanted to become a midfielder, I had a taste for playing the ball.

“I went crazy for Zidane, for his unique touch on the ball.

“I always watched Zizou. Then [Coach Sandro] Tovalieri in Roma's youth team moved me back.

“There were only midfielders and strikers in the team and I was the tallest, so he moved me back.

“As a child I took penalties too, and I was good at scoring them.”

The young defender was then asked to provide three words to describe his Coach Sinisa Mihajlovic, and three to describe himelsf.

“Mihajlovic? Direct. Loyal. Ambitious. Myself? Young. Cool. Left-footed.”

Byandrea

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