Milan midfield ace Sandro Tonali is unfazed by the chatter ahead of the new Serie A season. Many, including former Liverpool and Napoli manager Rafael Benitez, have regarded Inter and Juventus to be frontrunners for the next Scudetto title. However, the Brescia youth product is least interested in predictions.
Speaking to Sette, a weekly periodical of the Italian outlet Corriere della Sera, Tonali spoke on a number of topics – from being a Milan fan and his contract extension to the upcoming Scudetto championship.
“Apart from my Inter uncles, they are all AC Milan fans. My father conditioned me, what he could take and went abroad to follow away matches in the Champions League. He passed on this ‘AC Milan’ style to me. I feel strong even now. There was no chance of arriving at Milan at the age of ten: I arrived at the right time. And I want to stay here.” (via MilanNews)
Tonali undertook a large paycut, in the region of €400k of his net salary, in order to sign a five-year contract with the Rossoneri. He was applauded for his unselfish gesture by the club and fans alike.
“It was the right thing to do. I think the leap in quality was a natural thing: for a player being owned is always different from being on loan. you think about it going to sleep, but it is that detail that alone counts for little, but added to others it makes the difference. If you play badly and you are on loan maybe you worry that they will not redeem you.”
Milan cruised to their 19th Scudetto victory last season and the young central midfielder credits the win largely to Stefano Pioli.
“We understood that we have something big. Why did we win? It was a combination of things: Pioli was decisive, as he was in a difficult situation when our climb began.”
Finally, he shrugged off comments about Milan being inferior to their Serie A rivals.
“Many put Inter and Juve in front of us? We are alone with our fans. We are not interested in the things they say, as it was all last year. We cannot change people’s thoughts, of course it makes us reflect, but, with all the affection, we don’t care.”
Milan will kick off their maiden match of the new season against Udinese at the San Siro. However, Tonali will not be at Pioli’s disposal due to a minor groin injury.
Follow us on Google News for more updates on Serie A and Italian football