De Sciglio: One day, Milan captain

By Football Italia staff

Mattia De Sciglio insists he dreams of being Milan captain, despite being linked with Real Madrid.

Reports in Italy and Spain over recent months have been that Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid are tracking the youngster.

Whilst he admits such links are flattering, the defender has said that his intention is to stay at San Siro.

“I’m focused on Milan,” De Sciglio has told Corriere della Sera.

“If the rumours were true then of course I’d be pleased, but I have other plans for the future.

“I’m trying to learn from the experienced players in the dressing room like Abbiati, Bonera and Montolivo who are leaders of this team.

“It’d be an honour to one day become the captain of Milan. Those who lead lift the Cups? One more reason to wear it.

“I’d like to play for many years, to demonstrate my qualities and win the trophies which I haven’t won.”

At the age of 22, De Sciglio has already played over 50 games for Milan, as well as being capped 14 times by Italy, leading some to compare the full-back to club legend Paolo Maldini.

However, the youngster looked to play down the comparisons, and thanked former Milan Coach Massimiliano Allegri for handing him a first-team berth.

“For me, people only make this comparison because I showed what I could do at a young age.

“I need to learn to ignore the criticism.

“Compared to the other players I played with in the youth system, I was able to make the leap straight from the youth team to the first team without going out on loan.

“I have to thank Allegri, who helped me to grow and gave me an opportunity to show what I can do.”

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