AC Milan’s latest signing Devis Vasquez introduced himself to the fans by pledging to work hard and make the most of the opportunity he has been given.
It was confirmed earlier today that Vasquez has joined the Rossoneri on a three and a half year deal from Club Guarani in Paraguay, becoming the fifth Colombian player to be on the books at Milan.
We published a profile on the 24-year-old looking at his strengths and areas to improve as well as where he might fit for Milan, which you can read here.
Vasquez spoke to Milan TV as part of his official unveiling and spoke about the importance of keeping up his ethos of working as hard as possible to make the most of his potential, with his comments relayed by MilanNews.
“I am happy with this adventure. Milan are a great team and I’m very happy. It’s a dream to play for Milan and to be in Italy, I’m happy to be here,” he said.
On his first impressions: “It’s incredible, I wanted to be in Italy and even more in a big club like Milan. Obviously any player who is approached with a proposal like that will obviously be enthusiastic and will do everything possible to play in a club so great.”
On the Viareggio tournament, in which he participated: “I fell in love with Italy so much so that I go back there after the tournament. I learned Italian well. I started learning Italian by listening to music, searching on the internet and without no teacher. From that moment, since I returned from Italy, in Colombia I have set myself a dream to return to Italy again and here we are.”
On how he plays on the pitch: “I’m very aggressive on the pitch, very focused as a goalkeeper should be, concentrated, attentive, leader and also helping my team-mates which is the most important thing. Of course we are all a team and we all do the same thing. When I’m more familiar with people I’m more relaxed, but at first I’m a bit distant even though I consider myself a very good person.”
On Mario Yepes, who played for Milan: “I know he was here. He is a leader in the Colombian national team, we always remember him and I think talent is never enough, much more than that we always remember him. Talent is never enough, no matter how much talent you have, you have to work, work, work, work and work. That’s my philosophy.”
On the shirt number: “77 because a person very close to me asked me and I accepted. He put all his trust in me and helped me, therefore also a way to give back everything he gives me.”
Finally, a message to the Milan fans: “Hello Milan fans, I hope to see you soon. A hug.”
Welcome Vasquez
Welcome another gustavo gomez
Im sure you and others here on this website think you know better than massara who wanted us to aquirre the player, yeah right ,dont make laugh.
First of all gustavo gomez is a defender and was bought for roughly ten mil and sold with a loss.
Devis comes at a far lower price of 500k so even if he doesnt become a success with us we might actually still be able to sell him at a profit..
Martin, I agree that’s probably the plan. He’s a stop gap or alternative for 6 months, we probably sign Sportiello as no.2 on a free this summer.
Then Devis spends a few seasons on loan either serie A or La Liga, hopefully impresses, and we sell him for a few €mn profit (especially if he becomes a regular in his international squad)
It’s more of a revenue generation strategy than a long term Milan player, imho
Unless tatarusano has a string of really bad games i doubt devis will actually start this season unless he greatly exceeds expectations at the training grounds but overall i agree he is bought to be our third choice gk and hopefully improve and compete with sportiello for the second spot in the hierachy.
If he infact were to get his debut in this spring and ended up playing maybe ten games his value would propably already be ten fold of what we paid so this deal seems indeed like an ideal way to potentially gain revenue.
When that is said it also offers us the opportunity to loan out jungdal so he can further develope and we shouldnt forget either that we have some young gk talents coming up through the ranks in the coming years.
He might not become a long term player with us but i still believe that there is some faith in the players qualities and potential to further improve and now its up to him and carve out a space for himself.
There is obviously no guarantees in football but at least this deal come with no risks in my view. It seems he has also been learning italian for some time so hopefully that will help him adjust quickly to the new setting.