Romagnoli Confirmed as Milan’s Captain

AC Milan has confirmed Alessio Romagnoli as their new captain, following the departure of Leonardo Bonucci to Juventus.

The Roman native was a youth academy product of AS Roma but was soon loaned out to Sampdoria after failing to secure a starting spot with the giallorossi. Romagnoli impressed in his loan spell and was subsequently bought by Milan in 2015 for €25m.

The centre back grew in strength at Milan and has since become a pillar at the back for the Rossoneri. Romagnoli is touted as the future of the Italian defense. His calm, elegant style of play harkens back to Milan legend, Alessandro Nesta, who has no doubt influenced the defender.

In an interview with MilanTV the defender spoke of his commitment to the club, his fellow teammates, his admiration of Leonardo and Maldini and his appointment as captain of the team:

“How I feel at Milan? I have grown and I have learned more about this world, about the daily life of the Milan world. It’s nice; I feel well here in Milano, I’m very happy to stay. I hope to continue at this club for many years.”

“We must focus on improving, all together, winning and becoming that Milan that was so fun to watch and won so many trophies. We definitely have to improve and do better than last year. We need to do much better than the first half of last campaign and to continue to grow together, to finish better in the standings and to raise the bar. We have the Europa League and many beautiful challenges ahead of us. We have a very young squad but many experienced players as well, so the goal is to continue improving. Then we will see during the season how well we can do.

“Caldara? Besides being a very good player, he is a very good guy. We are all good, there’s Mateo (Musacchio), there’s Cristian (Zapata), Stefan (Simić), we’re so many in that position. I feel comfortable with everyone and we all get along well. I hope whoever plays, helps Milan win, and this is the goal.

“Higuain? I think he is one of the best strikers in the world. The stats speak for him. He has scored many goals in all competitions where he played, in all the teams where he played. I hope he continues to score for us and makes us win many matches.”

“We must avoid mistakes and all the distractions that we had last year. Unfortunately, we had them in Madrid too and in other games. We must improve, but always ready from the start, get used to playing important matches. These things that, at times, we failed to do last season.

“Maldini and Leonardo? They are very competent, very serious, so I think they are doing everything they can for the good of Milan. They take care of the corporate side, we focus on the pitch. We are very pleased to have such legends with us and it’s nice to see them close to us every day.

“The captain’s armband? It’s already wonderful to play for Milan, now wearing the captain’s armband is just a fantastic feeling and it fills me with pride. Great champions have worn this band in the past so I hope to honour it. I think every player has to improve and believe there are no limits. I expect to play better than last season, to improve on many aspects because you can always be better, and to give my all for Milan, to give 100% on the pitch and try my best to achieve great things.”

At 23 years, Romagnoli will become the youngest Milan captain since Franco Baresi, then 22, was awarded the captaincy in 1982. Given the maturity beyond his years, Romagnoli will no doubt become even better with the passage of time.

As this new AC Milan team seeks to reclaim its place at the top of Italian football,, Romagnoli looks like the right guy for the job.

Romagnoli will begin his new role as the leader of Milan on August 25 in a stern test against Napoli.