AC Milan defender Mattia Caldara admitted he is feeling good as he continues his road to full recovery.
The 25-year-old made just two appearances for the Rossoneri last season after his arrival from Juventus, having ruptured his knee ligaments towards the end of the season.
That came after he had missed a large chunk of it due to an Achilles problem, but Caldara is now back in training and is raring to go.
“I’m fine, now it’s a month and a half that I’m in Rome,” he told Milan TV.
“The first 20/25 days have been very complicated, both physically and mentally, but now I feel much better. I’ll have the tests soon. for a month and a half and let’s see where I am, but I feel good.”
On a tough 2018-19 season: “It’s not all to be thrown away, especially with the first injury I began to know myself better, I got to know my body better, I trained differently, I understood what my defects were, I trained more elasticity than I did.
“I have changed something, even in the pre-training session. The second injury was an accident, I couldn’t do anything about it, I have to start from the beginning but I know what to train.”
On Conti: “Andrea, as soon as I got hurt, he told me right away that it would be easier than the first injury, he knew me and told me that I would get over it. Every day since I operated, up to ten days, every day he called me to ask me how I was, how the feelings were, he gave me a lot of strength.
“Now I’m reading a book with a very emblematic title: ‘My perfect year starts here’. It’s a book that I started reading recently, it’s giving me a hand, it’s making me pass the time.
“The hope is that the knee will return as soon as possible, I can train with my team-mates as soon as possible and then slowly find the right shape and play continuously.
“I say hello to all the Milan fans, I apologise for this year, it was difficult for me but I can’t wait to get back and bring Milan back where it deserves, in the Champions League. I know it will be difficult but I will put it all myself, a hug and always strength Milan.”
Meanwhile, Caldara revealed to La Gazzetta dello Sport that he will be changing numbers for next season.
“I will leave number 33 for Krunic (who wore it for Empoli, editor’s note),” he told the paper.
“I will change my number, but I still don’t know which one I will choose.”