Matteo Gabbia has admitted that he is excited to try a new experience with Villarreal but he is ‘sorry’ to leave such a fantastic AC Milan squad.
A number of different sources have confirmed over the last 48 hours that Gabbia will be leaving Milan for the 2023-24 season and will be joining Villarreal on a dry loan, meaning there is no option or obligation to buy involved.
The operation is unrelated to the one that will see Samuel Chukwueze come the other way meaning it is not an exchange deal of any kind, rather Gabbia’s name up in talks between the clubs.
Gabbia spoke to Peppe Di Stefano who is Sky’s correspondent in Los Angeles at Milan’s preseason training camp in the United States, and he confirmed his imminent exit.
“I am very happy with this new experience in Spain, I am sorry to leave a fantastic group. I wish the best to all the staff and to all my team-mates,” he said (via MilanNews).
“I wish Milan success. I want to send a greeting to all the fans. I’m very enthusiastic about my new experience, I couldn’t not accept it. They immediately convinced me a lot.”
Good luck, hopefully you can gain valuable experience and regular minutes there, and come back as different, better player.
Gabbia is a good boy and I like him. As he’s a ball playing centerback he should do well in Spain. He’s a bit similar to Pau Torres ,the defender Villareal recently sold ,so they could be counting on Gabbia . I think Pioli is starting to prefer more aggressive and fast centerbacks which is why we haven’t been seeing much of Kjaer from last season too. Glad there’s no option to buy in the Gabbia deal. Come back stronger !
It was do or die. U gotta go to whereby can get more playing time. He’s good and still has potential. Hopefully it works out well for him