Diego Lopez spoke about what brought him to Milan and about what will most likely send him away in the summer.
Lopez was relegated to the bench in October by former boss Sinisa Mihajlovic and was replaced by one of Europe’s greatest sensations in this 2015/16 season – Gianluigi Donnarumma.
The Spaniard was one of the best players at Milan last season but with Donnarumma, 17-years-old, playing so well, he hasn’t been involved in any action since the 1-1 draw with Torino on October 17th and he looks set to leave.
“My exit from Real Madrid? It was due to sporting and non-sporting reasons,” Lopez told Marca. “The arrival of Keylor Navas made me reflect and Milan allowed me to improve certain aspects of my life and my career. I don’t know if it was the right decision to leave but there was a lot of tension. It’s true that I could’ve stayed but you don’t need to be very smart to understand I had to go.
“After a year I already regretted it, although it’s true that last season was very good for me, because I’m a Madrid fan and it’s hard to leave when you’re starting. How I understood I had to leave? That summer there was so much talk about the goalkeepers. Iker Casillas wanted to leave and it was believed that he would go. I started training and then Keylor arrived and Iker still couldn’t find a way out. I met with the club and they said that we have three goalkeepers and only two are needed. From there it was all very fast and so I thought that Milan was a good opportunity for my family.
“Milan are still in a crisis? Last season was a transition, with an inexperienced coach like Inzaghi. With the arrival of Mihajlovic it seemed like he’d add more but in the end he subtracted. Brocchi? He is a young coach, who likes his teams to play well, but he needs time to get results. Balotelli? He is a really good guy, with heart, who maybe hasn’t yet understood the world of football…
“Gianluigi Donnarumma? I was surprised by the behavior of Mihajlovic, he did very strange things to me. Then I injured my knee and remained out. One time, after 20 minutes, Mihajlovic sent the reserve goalkeeper to warm up because I hadn’t played the ball short and another time, after conceding a goal, he started making out of control gestures on the touchline.
“Mihajlovic lacked respect and I don’t know what it was but I found it all very strange. But football is like this, you come and go, I won’t lack respect towards anyone and Donnarumma deserves to be starting. If I’ll continue at Milan? I still have two years on my contract, but it would be a shame not to play in the English Premier League one day and I’m already 34.
“I’m open to any solution and in the summer I’ll evaluate everything along with my family.” Lopez joined the Rossoneri on a free transfer in the summer of 2014, made 36 appearances for Milan.
leave
Trade him with firmino or strootman #daydreaming – radiohead
Those guys don’t want to play for Milan anymore our team not strong enough
Donna is clearly the best choice for Milan, but D.Lopez is also a beast between the sticks, Im sure he will prove himself wherever he winds up next season. Both he and DeJong deserved to be treated with far more respect, this is why I never defended Miha even though the timing of his firing was terrible.
Sell him with right price. I heard Liverpool want him
He cost us many points
Ball distribution was poor
Stupid & ridiculous passes 2 our CB
What is respect? Should Milan be relegated because u deserved respect while u were terribly underperformancing?
You must be joking, he had one bad game this year and he was our MVP just one year ago.
No, he was uncomvincing for the most part up until his injury. And tbh he did some doubtful decisions last year as well, but those blunders were covered up due to most of his performances. And it wasnt really an accomplishment to have been our best player last season either…i do like him and respect him, but he should leave.
Donna with Abbiati as his mentor and back up next season is the way to go.
So you want Diego gone too? Abbiati has waved goodbye.