Former AC Milan defender Sergino Dest has opened up about his loan spell at the club now that he is back at Barcelona, admitting that he had a tough time in Italy.
The American defender was speaking from Barcelona’s training camp in the United States of America, with his quotes reported by The Athletic.
Dest joined Milan on loan from Barcelona for the 2022/23 season to provide depth and competition at right back. He failed to hold down a starting position under Stefano Pioli, not impressing much when he did take to the field.
This culminated in him making just 14 appearances across the season, and it was clear that Milan would not be buying him at the end of the campaign.
“Everybody could see that it was a little bit difficult last season,” Dest said. “I had some difficulties.”
“Mentally, it’s not that easy. I did a good job to stay strong and focus on my own game. At the moment, everything is back on track. I have a second chance and it’s up to me. It’s a really difficult moment in my career. And in my life as well. But I’ve got way stronger, mentally.
“You can look at it in two ways. You can look at it in a negative way, like everything is going bad, or you can just keep trying to find a positive way in the negative things that happen. That was what I did.
“I always looked at it positively and I was like: ‘OK, at the moment I’m not playing, I’m not doing so well, but I can just work on myself individually.’ So that’s what I did. I feel like all these times, even if you’re not playing you can always work on yourself. You can always improve, and nobody is perfect, so everybody can still work on themselves.”
Dest is an international teammate of new Milan winger Christian Pulisic, and he explained that he was very honest with the former Chelsea winger about Milan and his time there.
“I gave him my honest opinion,” Dest said. “What I experienced in the club. I’m not negative at all. What I’ve just done is give him the facts.
“At the end of the day, it’s all up to him. Everybody has their own career, their own path. So what happened to me isn’t supposed to be happening to him. I just told him that it’s a really nice club. The city is also nice. But, at the end of the day, it’s your choice. And you have to see what is best for your future.”
There is a chance that Milan and Barcelona will face each other this summer, on which Dest said: “It will be nice to play against him. I just have to do my best and make sure that, if we face each other on the field, I’m the boss. I’m looking forward to it.”
