Zaccardo: “I could not say no to Milan”

CRISTIAN ZACCARDO hopes to play at Milan with continuity and says he was a Milan fan as a kid.

Milan’s market only really started in the final week of January and it was the arrival of Cristian Zaccardo that started Milan’s signings. Zaccardo arrived to Milan in exchange for Djamel Mesbah who went to Parma.

Zaccardo’s move raised many eyebrows as he does not fit the policy of young players nor the policy of giving players above the age of 30 a long term deal but defender is ready to prove his the doubters wrong.

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“I feel very positive, the group of lads are great and the team are very good. The position in the table is now better, we are just three points behind third place and we are level with Inter,” Zaccardo told the press today at his official presentation (the presentation of the signing Bartosz Salamon will be taking place on Friday).

“We have Balotelli who is world class. He presented himself with great enthusiasm. He’d known some of the players so it wasn’t difficult for him to settle. I’m getting to know everyone although I already knew all the Italian players. I want to be ready for when the coach needs me. This club leaves nothing to chance. There’s more pressure and more responsibility but these things make you feel a more important player.

“On paper the next two games are games we can win and we want to get to the derby with two wins in the bag. We have cut the gap on the teams that were above us. Mario does some great things in training and he will very useful, I think we have the best strike force in Italy. I have put myself on the line, I know that here it will be a lot harder to get a game than at Parma. I sacrificed a year of my deal and I’ve signed until 2016. Everybody wants to play every game. I train hard and I want to be ready for when my time comes.

“I started my career as a right back but over the years I have adapted my game to play in the middle. It is great to be able to train with quality players. We have a very young attack that can do very well. Stephan El Shaarawy is extremely quick, Mario Balotelli is a complete player while M’Baye Niang is an excellent player for his age, and that’s not forgetting the likes of Robinho, Giampaolo Pazzini and Bojan Krkic,” he added.

Milan’s Primavera beat Cesena’s 2-1 today. Watch the goals of Aniekan and Henty.

“I hope to do what (Juventus’ center back Andrea) Barzagli did. We have had very similar careers and I hope to follow in his footsteps seeing that now he is a first team choice for Juventus. After the (2006) World Cup (which Italy won) I played a good season at Palermo, then came the chance to play in Germany although I never managed to play with any consistency and that is why I decided to come back to Italy.

“I thought I would end my career there but then this opportunity came along and I couldn’t say no. I supported Milan as a kid as I grew up watching the Milan of the Dutchmen,” said the 31-year-old Zaccardo.