Milan midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu says his slow start was partly down to not being able to speak to Vincenzo Montella – “he didn’t speak English”.
The Turkish international joined from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer, but initially struggled to adapt to Italian football.
“I made my first trip to Milan by plane,” Calhanoglu recalled, speaking to Forza Milan.
“I was thinking about a new style of football, my new club and my new teammates. It’s a big change coming to a club like Milan, a club with great history.
Milan midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu says his slow start was partly down to not being able to speak to Vincenzo Montella – “he didn’t speak English”.
The Turkish international joined from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer, but initially struggled to adapt to Italian football.
“I made my first trip to Milan by plane,” Calhanoglu recalled, speaking to Forza Milan.
“I was thinking about a new style of football, my new club and my new teammates. It’s a big change coming to a club like Milan, a club with great history.
“As I went to Milanello I was thinking about the great champions who had been there, like [Paolo] Maldini or [Gennaro] Gattuso, my head was buzzing.
“It wasn’t easy to make an impact straight away because we were living in a hotel, and also because of the language. Talking and communicating with my teammates wasn’t easy.
“Now I’m happy, I understand the others and I can talk to them. I like the Italian culture, it reminds me of Turkey.
“After being banned for four months I needed to play a bit to get in to the right physical condition.
“It’s difficult if you can’t communicate though and Montella didn’t speak English, only Italian.
“Obviously I know football, I know what position I have to take up on the pitch and how to behave during the game, but I need to feel the support of a Coach who talks to me.
“Gattuso gave me a lot of confidence because he really helps me and communicates with me. He’s always told me to free my mind and focus on football.
“He believed in the qualities I had and said that by doing that the results would come.”
Calhanoglu was then asked who is helping him to learn Italian.
“At the start [Ricardo] Rodriguez helped me a lot because he knows German. The only thing is he doesn’t know Italian all that well either, so Fabio Borini helped me most with your language.”