Castillejo reuniting with ‘winner’ Gattuso at Valencia

Milan winger Samu Castillejo said he is looking forward to working under ‘winner’ Gennaro Gattuso as he flew out for a Valencia medical.

The Spanish midfielder was videoed at Linate airport in Milan by Calciomercato.com ahead of his proposed move to Valencia.

“Rino is a winner, I did everything to be here and to be managed by him,” Castillejo told reporters.

It was initially reported he would terminate the contract with Milan a year early, but now seems set to move for only performance-related bonuses.

The 27-year-old joined Milan from Villarreal in 2018 at a cost of €21m and was a first-team regular until the title-winning campaign.

In all, he made 113 appearances for the Rossoneri, but just five of those came last season, when he was even excluded from the club’s Champions League roster.

Under Gattuso, Castillejo was a first-team regular at Milan. He played 22 times in Serie A during their full campaign together in 2018-19.

Castillejo started his professional career with Malaga, making his debut in 2014 after graduating from the club’s academy.

He moved to Villarreal in 2015, where he stayed for three seasons.