In this week’s edition of SportWeek, which is part of Gazzetta dello Sport, AC Milan midfielder Yacine Adli spoke about his journey with the Rossoneri at great length. Many ups and downs, but always with a smile on his face.
Adli joined Milan in the summer of 2021 for around €8m but the Rossoneri agreed to leave him at Bordeaux for one more season. Therefore, his first season with the red and black could was 2022-23, but he played just 140 minutes across all competitions.
Despite this, he didn’t give up and decided to stay to fight for a spot. It paid off as he has played 1484 minutes this season, bagging a goal in the process. Speaking to SportWeek (see photo below), Adli spoke about his journey at great length and below are some of his quotes.
On the Rossoneri fans…
“I think we live in a fake world: we show what people expect to see or what they like to believe. But those who know me know that I show myself as I am. I don’t do anything for the purpose of pleasing others. The man you see in the locker room is the same one who jumps and sings under the Curva Sud after a victory.
“This love for Milan is sincere, and it exploded in me spontaneously, I can’t control it. And when I love, I give everything. When I hear 80 thousand fans singing, I get shivers and I feel like one of them. And, when I wasn’t playing, it made me feel alive to act like a fan.
“My favourite chant? Bandito e Forza Diavolo alè. The screams from the stadium after my goal against Roma? I got shivers, almost tears. After everything I’ve been through, it was a special moment.”
On the period without playing time…
“Doubting myself? Never. I would have left. But the quality I put into my work every day made me confident. I knew I was still missing something, but I also knew that something was coming. I tried to work hard, not waste time and look ahead. There was a bit of adaptation, tactical and physical, missing on my end for this football.
“I’m not someone who looks at match data a lot, but these now say that I’ve improved a lot, especially in the defensive phase. And, since I’m still young, I’m sure I’ll continue to improve. Everyone has been close to me, and that’s not to be trivial. I feel close to Bennacer who has Algerian origins like mine, or to Theo, Giroud and Maignan, French like me, but I don’t make any distinctions.
“And then, my teammates had no reason to worry: never once did I show up at Milanello with the disappointed face of someone who isn’t playing.”
On his characteristics…
“I’m an atypical player: I can play a deep-sitting midfielder, an attacking midfielder, I have played as a left winger and false nine. I don’t have the strong legs of someone who sprints 40 meters and leaves the opponent behind, but I understand the timing of the game, I ‘see’ passes that not everyone sees.
“I’m like a chess player who moves the right pieces at the right time to ‘kill’ his opponent. These are things that the viewer doesn’t always notice and for this reason, I will never be able to please everyone. I will always be Yacine Adli, with his characteristics. And these characteristics can make the difference.”
On the barbecue at the end of last season at his house…
“The coach wasn’t invited because it would have meant inviting all his staff and it would have taken three houses (laughs), There were teammates and their families, and they all came. I had confirmation of the respect they have for me. Rain was the forecast for that day, but instead it was sunny. I took it as a sign. A beautiful day that united the group even more.”
On his teammates…
“Who surprised me? Gabbia. Last year he played very little, though even more than me (laughs), but he didn’t give up. Then he went to Villarreal and came back with a lot more confidence. The funniest one? Florenzi. Before, I laughed a lot with Sandro Tonali.”
On his fluent Italian…
“Studying was for nothing. I learned by talking, from the first day I arrived. And, when I made mistakes, I asked people to correct me to speed up learning.”
On his off-pitch passions…
“I play online chess with a couple of mates, Pulisic above all. He is stronger than me. I read a lot, even religious texts. For me, science is infinite, so there is always something to learn from everyone: from books and from the people we meet. And, because I like to learn, I always have my eyes open and my ears ready to listen.”
On his passion for this sport…
“Football is a passion and a job for me, I’m a footballer, but first of all, I’m a man. And as such I want to be useful to my family and to society. To achieve this, sometimes, the player must be put aside. We have money, but it’s not everything, and it’s true that it doesn’t bring happiness, it doesn’t buy faith or a family that loves you and makes you feel good .”
On his relationship with his teammates…
“I talk to everyone. I prefer to talk about life, the difficulties we encounter, the trials it subjects us to. I try to give a good example and good advice. It is important to put things into perspective: we are lucky enough to have transformed a passion into a job, so we must be patient when things don’t go well and look not at those who are better off, but at those below us.
“This is how we learn to be content with what we have. Of course, I talk about religion with my Muslim teammates or with Christian ones like Giroud or Maignan: we make comparisons between our religions and discover that they have many things in common. Let’s help each other show the best version of ourselves every day.”
On his mentality…
“If someone tells me: you’re poor, you don’t know how to play, I don’t listen. I repeat, for better or for worse, I try to stay in the middle, without ever feeling too happy for a compliment or too disappointed by a criticism.”
It remains to be seen if he can compete for a spot next season as well, with some reinforcements expected, but given his low salary it could be worth it for Milan. He has also proved that he can be really good at time this season.
With good coaching Adli would become a superstar