Beijing Guoan Coach Alberto Zaccheroni confirms he wanted Milan striker Luiz Adriano.
The Brazilian forward saw a move to Jiangsu Suning fall through, and eventually remained at San Siro despite talk of another offer from China.
“I made a list of six or seven players and was on there,” Zaccheroni confirmed to Calciomercato.
“I also asked for [Burak] Yılmaz who we eventually got.
Beijing Guoan Coach Alberto Zaccheroni confirms he wanted Milan striker Luiz Adriano.
The Brazilian forward saw a move to Jiangsu Suning fall through, and eventually remained at San Siro despite talk of another offer from China.
“I made a list of six or seven players and was on there,” Zaccheroni confirmed to Calciomercato.
“I also asked for [Burak] Yılmaz who we eventually got.
“Why didn’t the deal happen? I don’t know, he was a player I specifically asked for, but I’m happy with the arrival of Yılmaz too.
“They are two very strong strikers and it was important to bring at least one of them to our club.”
Zaccheroni was formerly Coach of the Japanese national team, and was asked about Milan’s Keisuke Honda and Inter full-back Yuto Nagatomo.
“Honda is a great professional with good technique. He’s not a normal Japanese player, because he has great physical strength and the Japanese don’t have those characteristics.
“He’s a player with a strong personality, he needs to be on the ball a lot during the game. I was surprised by his stamina.
“He’s a very good player, and Milan did well to bet firmly on him.
“He’s a bit of an introverted player, he doesn’t talk much on the pitch but he knows how to be a leader in his own way.
“When you train a national team you only see the players every two or three months, it’s hard to build-up a close rapport.
“I must say that I immediately had a good relationship with Honda though, as with everyone else.
“Nagatomo, for example, is much more open, I consider him a bit Neapolitan in that regard.
“Nagatomo is a top player. In a difficult role at full-back, where I didn’t have many quality options I always chose him.
“It’s always good to have players like him in the team, he’s always involved, he’s quick and he’s two-footed. Obviously he has flaws, but his qualities are more obvious.
“He’s not tall enough to compete in the air, but for me he’s a very useful player for a team. If we were Italian he would play for the national team, he’s a good player.”