Atalanta defender Matteo Ruggeri has admitted that his two idols are an AC Milan legend and a current Rossoneri player.
Ruggeri grew up in Lombardy and he joined Atalanta’s youth sector in 2011 at the age of nine, climbing up through the various ranks with La Dea before he made his professional debut for them on 3 November 2020 in a Champions League group stage match against Liverpool.
Five days after that he made his Serie A debut in a 1–1 home draw against Inter, and the left-back is now starting to gain the trust of Gian Piero Gasperini more and more after his loan to Salernitana last year having made 13 league appearances.
Ruggeri spoke to Sky in view of Friday’s match against Empoli about his progress through the youth team at Atalanta and those that he looks up to, with his comments relayed by MilanNews.
“Coming from the youth team, thanks to the teachings of Mino Favini, is incredible for me. When I play in Bergamo, seeing the stadium full makes me it always makes you feel almost emotional. The match against Lecce gave us a bit of wobble but in Naples we didn’t lose track,” he said.
“Our fans can give us so much, we can reach the top. Have we not exploited the fact that we are not in European competitions? Cups can also give an extra stimulus, let’s think about ourselves without feeling panicked. My idol has always been Maldini, now I think it’s Theo Hernandez, the strongest in my role.”
We will take any interested Italian players into our squad just so we look more like an Italian club.
I don’t know if u know but this ain’t the golden age of Italian players. The team is going to look different. Besides we didn’t really win without the Brazilians and Dutch players.