Tiemour Bakayoko has spoken out about his past at AC Milan, revealing that Stefano Pioli did not want him and that he doesn’t feel like a part of the Scudetto win.
Bakayoko has had two different spells at Milan. The first one certainly went a lot better than the second, as Gennaro Gattuso made him a key part of the midfield in the 2018-19 season but he returned to Chelsea at the end of it.
He rejoined on a two-year loan spell which came to an end in the summer of 2022 and the Rossoneri management were delighted to get him off the wage bill in the end. Chelsea seemingly felt the same, letting him go on a free transfer to Lorient.
Bakayoko spoke about his past in an interview with L’Equipe and in particular about what happened during his two periods at Milan, with his comments relayed by Calciomercato.com.
Tell us about your move to Chelsea…
“Conte wanted me since my time at Juventus and in any case I wanted to have an experience abroad. We finish fifth, we win the FA Cup, it was a positive year. Then Sarri arrived with Jorginho and didn’t even speak to me. So I knew I had to leave.”
And your first spell at Milan…
“There I showed my football for the first time.”
A move to Monaco followed…
“A sh** season, due to Covid.”
Then you went back to Milan…
“They were courting me. The club wanted me, not Pioli. The first year I play a little, I gave my contribution but the title doesn’t feel totally mine.
“At the end of the season I’m torn. I liked the idea of not moving for two seasons, I give myself time until the winter market. And then Pioli tells me that he won’t count on me too much, and it’s a slap in the face for my ego.
“There are alternatives but my salary is too high. I could have made some sacrifices, but not cutting the salary to one third. So I stay, but I don’t play much.
“I would have preferred to stay at home with my children and watch the games on TV. My only regret is that I took two-year loans.”
You worked with Gattuso…
“I have very good memories of Rino Gattuso who I met at Milan and Napoli, even though we almost came to blows. He pushed us to always give our best, his speeches transcended us.
“He is an affectionate person, always available, even off the pitch. Pioli is an excellent coach on a technical and tactical level. But I have a little resentment about certain things. At a certain point I deserved to play more, and he even admitted it.”
When Bakayoko came on the pitch it felt like the Rossoneri were playing with 10 and the opposition had 12. He always looked down at the ball and his feet to pass……I am surprised he even plays for anyone.
You and Krunic are the luckiest man alive to wear the sacred Milan shirt.
Don’t complain, under normal circuimstance you would ha e to pay premium to watch the game from where you were watching 😂
No way.
Digao or Antonio Donnarumma by 10 country miles.
People need to understand Baka is a good player, look at his first season, Pioli is a sickness
I knew a coach at youth system of Tottenham while my son used to play there. He used to always tell the young and aspiring players.
That white line never lies, once you cross it that is it. So go out there be yourself, enjoy every moment and show them who you are.
So I am sure Baka is an OK okayer but every time he crossed the white line…. We all eagerly wanted to see something but it never happened.
Sure Pioli maybe didnt like him and we can ultimately blame him but even Baka knows that he blew his chances
Holy fvck. Did you have amnesia or something?
Baka played like an amateur every time Pioli put him on the field. Did you forgot all Baka silly blunders that cost us 3 points?
If Baka is still 20-22 years old with low salary like Thiaw or Adli then i can understand his performance can be fixed. But Baka already 29 years and his salary was 4 million.
No club wants to buy him too so he was lucky that Milan loaned him for two seasons with 4 million salary under his belt!!!
Everytime he played he always look sluggish and made a dumb mistake, costing us precious point.
Always excuses with this guy.
He got paid a HUGE salary to sit on the bench and when he did play, it was bad. Real bad.
Everywhere he goes, he underperforms despite a huge ~4m salary, has a bad attitude, blames everyone except for himself and he wonders why NO TEAM wants him.
What’s worse, even when teams came in for an offer, he STILL wouldn’t leave because sitting on the bench making 4m is better than playing somewhere else and making 1-2m. Waste of a career too.
Absolute shocker. I guess the guy isn’t very smart either, since it’s obvious and he can’t figure it out.
This
First season his salary was the same as Romagnoli’s — 6.5M.
Fans have short memories but Baka under Gattuso was great. It was his second stint that sucked a bit. And then he didn’t play to avoid us buying him. He wasn’t doing well enough for us to take the risk and occupied a spot unfortunately