AC Milan playmaker Brahim Diaz believes that the fans are very much the 12th man and also recognised his growth since he joined on an initial loan from Real Madrid nearly three years ago.
The attacking midfielder spent time at Malaga and Manchester City as a youth player before joining Real Madrid, and in the summer of 2020 he was loaned by Los Blancos to Milan where he has gradually increased in importance.
The one-year loan was followed by a new two-year spell with the Rossoneri and he has become a guaranteed starter now, with 111 appearances, 17 goals and 11 assists under his belt. He scored the decisive goal in the match against Tottenham at San Siro, and hopes for the same tomorrow.
The Spaniard was interviewed by Carlo Pellegatti in a special Q&A for StarCasinò Sport – an Official Partner of AC Milan – in view of the game against Napoli at San Siro tomorrow night.
“I saw the fans get excited after my goal. It was said that we couldn’t reach the quarter-finals and this gave us the right energy for the return leg. As I always say, the fans are the twelfth player and they play games with us,” he said.
“They always help us a lot, supporting us in all the matches. Thanks to them you feel more focused and more motivated. Seeing the fans close to us, even in difficult moments, is an incredible thing. I would like to play always and only at San Siro.”
Regarding the Champions League, he added: “I am very happy to play this tournament with the Milan shirt, it is a historic club in the Champions League. Seeing the fans sing the anthem gives goosebumps, an incredible feeling.
“At Milan you experience the competition with a lot of emotion, you can see that they have won many in the past and that it is a particular trophy for them. It’s the best tournament in the world and it’s too good to play it at San Siro.”
Tomorrow, Milan face Napoli again: “They have a strong team and they have shown it in Serie A and beyond. Technically they are good, but so are we. We know each other well so I think it will be a balanced match.”
Finally, a comment on his career with the Rossoneri so far: “Since I’ve been here I’ve grown a lot professionally and I’ve learned never to give up. In fact, every time you play in the Milan shirt, you have to give your best. And I want to do it by improving more and more.”
A bit of a controversial case our Brahim Diaz.
That’s his 3rd year with ACM still sure if he is the right man to bring us to the next/ top level.
If he keeps playing like he did recently vs Napoli, then hell yes.
Yet, the majority of his time with us was rather flat, lacking of physical presence, endurance, consistency and most importantly vision/ skills on the attacking and creative front.
Dilemma for Milan.
Spend $20m to buy Diaz and let CDK & Adil devalue? It’s better to let Diaz go back to RM if Milan cannot fetch $30m + $10m back for the 2 players.