Adriano Galliani silenced naysayers on Diego Lopez and noted Mattia De Sciglio is “the symbol of Milan.”
The CEO spoke to Milan Channel this evening after a visit to their Vismara youth academy.
Adriano Galliani silenced naysayers on Diego Lopez and noted Mattia De Sciglio is “the symbol of Milan.”
The CEO spoke to Milan Channel this evening after a visit to their Vismara youth academy.
“De Sciglio is the symbol of Milan’s youth academy, as he arrived at Vismara aged 10 and climbed all the way through the ranks. I told all the young players that our hope is they can become like him.
“Mattia did well for Italy this week in a system that he’s not accustomed to, impressing out wide in a 3-5-2. He is versatile and can play any role, left or right, while he even played centre-back once.
“If we didn’t have Diego Lopez, we’d put him in goal too!”
Diego Lopez arrived on a free from Real Madrid this summer and marked his Serie A debut by saving a penalty against Lazio.
“He is a great goalkeeper and I remember everyone made fun of me when he first came here,” continued Galliani.
“I never said he was the best goalkeeper in Europe, but one of the best and I remain utterly convinced of that.
“Carlo Ancelotti and above all William Vecchi reassured me on that, having trained him at Real Madrid. When this opportunity arose we didn’t let it get away and he has already proved at San Siro that he can be important.
“As well as that penalty save, he gives a sense of security to the defence and I also like that he uses his feet a lot. It means he acts like an extra defender to pass the ball around from the back.”
On Sunday Milan visit the Stadio Tardini for their Serie A match against Parma.
“Last year I remember we started the game badly, but deserved the victory and in the end lost due to a free kick that had been moved forward by several metres,” insisted Galliani.
“If we look back, with that point we probably would’ve qualified for the Europa League.”