“Ancelotti top, but Mertens is the greatest master”

In the long interview given to TuttoMercatoWeb.comthe Carrarese full-back Simone Zanon he also spoke about his footballing past, which also saw him touch a prestigious place like Naples: “I started kicking the ball for the first time in a team in my town, Lana, where my father stopped playing just when I started, so much so that my first coach was my father’s last. Then I landed at SudTirol, where I completed my entire youth career, so much so that I played for Berretti under age and made my first team debut at 16: in the 2018-2019 season I made my debut in the Italian Cup against Frosinone, the year of their promotion to Serie A, then promotion to the championship in Ravenna.

In January, however, I decided to go to Napoli in the Primavera, even though I had the opportunity to train with the first team during the years of Ancelotti and Gattuso: a dream as a Milan fan. If Ancelotti is the greatest coach in the world? Absolutely yes. And not only as a technician, but also as a person. Although, to be honest, the greatest teachings were given to me by a sacred monster like Mertens, who together with Insigne and Koulibaly had taken me, so to speak, under their protective wing. At the time of my first call-up to the first team, my coach, Baronio, told me to always remember that the great champions in training would always help me, without making mistakes weigh on me. And so it was.”