West Ham United midfielder Lucas Paqueta has spoken highly of his time at AC Milan in the wake of a Europa League win over Freiburg.
Speaking after the match to Gianluca Di Marzio, the Brazilian midfielder was eager to explain that he thinks fondly of his time at the club and he has many friends there.
Paqueta scored one of the goals for West Ham in the 2-1 win over Freiburg and he has become a crucial player for David Moyes’ side, showing why there was so much excitement about him when he was younger.
He was not able to make good on his potential whilst he was at Milan between January 2019 and September 2020. He signed for a massive €38.4m and was then sold to Lyon for €23.44m.
He very nearly left West Ham for European champions Manchester City in the summer but the move did not materialise.
“I have many memories and many friends in Milan,” he said.
“It was a good experience but at the same time difficult, but it allowed me to grow. Today I am still a fan of Milan, a club which will always remain special to me.
“Football is not easy, at a certain point changes are inevitable to get where you want. That’s what I did but I will always thank Milan, the fans and my friends.
“But I had to leave, life is like that. If I am where I am today it is above all thanks to Milan. Football is like this, there are ups and downs and we have to gain experiences to get to the top. And today I am grateful to everyone.”
I’m still sad he left. Paquetá has everything that Milan needs in midfield but Giampaolo & Pioli couldn’t fit him into their rigid Italian tactics because he was “too Brazilian”. Now we lost one of the most promising players Milan had in recent years and he is tearing it up in the Premier League… shame