Jeremy Menez has rubbished his bad boy image, eulogised Pippo Inzaghi and stated that: “This could be my year.”
Jeremy Menez has rubbished his bad boy image, eulogised Pippo Inzaghi and stated that: “This could be my year.”
The Frenchman has endured a difficult pre-season so far with new club Milan, but on from making a first appearance of their US and Canadian tour against Chivas, has revealed a positive outlook.
“It was tough to be on the outside, but now I feel better. I am ready to give everything that I have,” Menez has told today’s edition of the Gazzetta dello Sport.
“Inzaghi is developing a good playing philosophy, and working in this way I am sure we will do something good. I’m not worried, at the end of the month we will be ready.
“My preferred role? At PSG I played on the left or in the middle, and that’s where I find I am best.
“But if I should be put on the right for the good of the team, then no problem. It’s my best quality – I can play in any position in attack, and I still have so much to do and see.”
Menez met to discuss his move to San Siro with Inzaghi and Adriano Galliani in Ibiza.
“Inzaghi had a discussion with me that convinced me straight away. He is why I chose Milan. I feel a great understanding with the Coach, I cannot fail because he is providing so much for me and I would give anything for him.
“I already knew him as a player, of course. He had so much charisma and was very determined, just like now.
“He told me he had spoken of me on the phone with Carlo Ancelotti, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva, asking what I was like on the field and as a person. I know they have said nice things about me, I have to thank them.”
The 27-year-old is preparing for a second stint in Serie A, following a mixed first go in the League with Roma, which saw inconsistent form matched with off-field clashes.
“Am I a bad boy? The fact that I am a bad boy, excuse the term, is rubbish. People have a false picture of me and I want to prove that I am a quiet person on and off the field.
“I’m not saying that I have always been a saint, but I am now grown up, I feel different. In Rome I was young, I went wrong two or three times and I realised I made mistakes.
“As for those who judge me badly as a footballer, I say that in the first two season at PSG I managed almost 20 goals and 30 assists.
“This could be my year. My objectives are to take us back to the Champions League and to win something in this shirt, and to return to the national team. Preferably starting with the next game.
“The competition for places does not bother me, I am training and the best will play.”