In the words of Riccardo Calafiori there is all the confidence seen on the pitch against Bologna. There is the young defender who impressed Serie A and Europe by arriving as an outsider and from abroad because no one in Italy wanted him. Indeed, after the serious injury, a few years ago someone told him to stop. “It’s been almost six years. Someone told me that I had to stop, in those ten minutes maybe I believed it but then I said: ‘It can’t be true, I have to get back to the level I was before, I don’t know, but I have to’. Mino Raiola was fundamental. I saw him a few times but he was always the first to help. Person of unique humility. He told me: ‘There is the option of having surgery in Pittsburgh like Zlatan.’ It wasn’t easy but I listened to him. I did well”. Now he is here, the best central defender in the championship, and Spalletti will take him to Germany.
What happened in the last year?
“So many things, otherwise maybe I wouldn’t be here. The improvement was mental, I was immediately calmer, as if nothing had changed from Basel to Bologna. I put in the work, I was rewarded.”
What did abroad give you?
“For one thing, it wasn’t my choice, I wasn’t completely convinced, almost forced because it was the only team left. But from the first day I changed my mind, there is what a young player needs: continuity, less pressure, I made more than 30 appearances, I grew.”
Could it happen in Italy?
“I’m not mad at anyone, I played around with Mou, then it went badly in Genoa, in my role the prices of others went up and there was no space, in the end Basel”.
Spalletti-Motta: similarities?
“There is something similar with the coach with Thiago, more or less that’s the idea. Be proactive. Certain spaces on the pitch don’t matter, but occupying them at the right time and in the right way. They are both meticulous. They try to improve you even a little, mistakes are not accepted.”
Is your strength flexibility?
“One need for football now is to go in this direction, we are looking for movements so as not to give a point of reference.”
Young Italy like young Bologna?
“The 2021 team has changed a lot, perhaps the innocence of being young and not thinking too much helps to get results.”
Did Bologna give you emotions?
“I can only say thank you. From day one a beautiful atmosphere. Against Juve I will always remember the celebration, I didn’t expect the bus, we didn’t win a trophy…”.
Will it be a summer with market interest?
“On the future… here I would like to enjoy my first call-up hoping to go to the European Championship. I almost don’t realize it. I would only bring serenity and fun to the pitch, sometimes we forget that.”
“Mentally, I said it. I’m not saying it’s everything but it’s very, very important. I had this thing inside, the personality with the ball. With Thiago I exasperated it even by making mistakes, it takes personality to recover.”
“I try to steal from everyone. A left-handed guy like me is Bastoni, I see him here live, it’s devastating.”
What changes from fullback to stopper?
“Everything, many things, the point of view, the vision with the ball, the space to cover. But I don’t think it makes a difference between three or four, it’s now a continuous movement.”
Does the word “free” mean anything to you? Scirea, Baresi, play defenders…
“I haven’t seen them, but I know them. They are different worlds from the past, it is difficult to make comparisons.”
You also discovered yourself as a goalscorer, maybe you need to improve in pure marking?
“I have strong points but many things to improve. I think it will be difficult to mark like Chiellini, he is the absolute number one.”
“I would like to have your confidence in going to the European Championship. I work for that, but at the moment it’s a dream.”
Where did you watch the 2021 final?
“Ah, a beautiful memory, on these occasions we Italians unite. I was at home with family and friends, then I went out to celebrate as a fan.”
To celebrate Atalanta’s historic Europa League victory, La Gazzetta has launched a shock promo: the annual subscription to G ALL for only €3.99 per month and the poster of the celebratory front page as a gift! DISCOVER THE PROMOTION HERE
“I have a wonderful relationship with my teammates in Rome, I grew up there.”
