AC Milan defender Simon Kjaer has claimed that he was signed to bring experience to a squad that is still ‘growing every game’.
The Danish defender joined back in the January transfer window on an initial loan spell from Sevilla having had a difficult few months on loan at Atalanta, and he quickly established himself as an immovable rock at the heart of Milan’s defence.
Fast forward to now and he is very much still that, having signed on a permanent deal from the LaLiga side over the summer for a fee believed to be in the region of €3.5m – an absolute bargain already in relative terms.
Despite making a number of crucial interventions to prevent dangerous opportunities from materialising into goals, Kjaer was unable to stop Milan conceding three times and throwing a lead away on three separate occasions in Monday night’s 3-3 draw with Roma.
Kjaer was interviewed by Sky Italia after the game, with his comments transcribed by MilanNews and translated below.
On his responsibility: “This is why they signed me, to bring my experience, help my team-mates and give my all. We are improving, growing every game, it is a pit we didn’t win.”
On the differences compared to the beginning of the year: “Trust means a lot in football, the quality has always been there. When you win games, confidence grows, then we’ve always worked hard. We have to keep working, Pioli did a great job, we have to always raise the level.
“The day I don’t have fun anymore I’ll stop playing. I started playing because I love football. Milan has always been a dream for me, San Siro is always San Siro.
“The team are growing, it is also important to remember where we were until recently. It is very important to have our legs on the ground and work every day, tonight we drew unfortunately but we must be calm. There is always something to be done and to improve, everyone gives a hand for their team-mates.”
