Adli brands Maignan a ‘football addict’ and insists Leao will become ‘a killer’ | OneFootball

Yacine Adli has shed more light on some of the characters that he encountered in the AC Milan dressing room, including Mike Maignan and Rafael Leao.

Adli arrived from Bordeaux and was initially loaned back to the French club before fully starting his adventure with the Rossoneri. He struggled for playing time in 2022-23, with Stefano Pioli not really deeming him a big part of his plans.

Towards the tail end of last season however, the Frenchman displayed some of his best qualities, in a position he was unfamiliar with, and he quickly became a key player. Despite this, Paulo Fonseca did not see his role continuing in the same manner after arriving this summer.

After being loaned to Fiorentina, something quite predictable happened in the game before the international break as La Viola welcomed Milan to the Stadio Artemio Franchi and Adli scored against his parent club.

He was a guest on the podcast ‘Zack en roue libre’ and he spoke about his experiences at Milan, with his comments relayed by Goal.

What was it like when Paolo Maldini called?

“I had a first contact with Maldini and Massara. Maldini, Paolo Maldini . Him. When you talk to him it gets serious and you freeze, you immediately understand what environment you are in. Here it is a strong institution.

“You speak potentially, or rather not potentially, with the best player in the history of the club, so that is already something. I always have a little phrase that I will always remember. When I was at Milan. My best friend was with me when I signed for Milan, he came with me.

“He said a phrase that made me smile, I saw him shortly after the signing because he was there thoughtful. I asked him what was wrong and he replied: ‘Brother, Maldini froze me. There is too much aura, I froze’. When you see Maldini you see class.”

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What was Leao like as a team-mate?

“Everything revolves around Rafa because he is a trendy guy, he answers and then makes noise, fuels controversy. But currently people think he is underperforming.

“I honestly think, and I’m not saying this because I know him and I have the opportunity to be his friend who I love, that he is in a period in which he will hurt [the opponents] a lot in the near future.

“Because Rafael Leao is re-adapting to a system and has played differently for a long time. He tries to focus above all on the defensive phase with the team.

“Many think he is underperforming because he is not focused only on the attacking phase, but when he will be able to do that defensive work and find his best attacking form, because he has it and shows it every match…

“He is in a process of becoming a killer. He is a player like few others today: he is one of those players you pay the ticket price for.”

And Mike Maignan?

“He’s a football addict, he sleeps with football. After all the games I knew I couldn’t sleep before 3-4 because Mike would call me.

“I knew he had already analysed all the situations, all the details. [He would say] ‘Hi. How are you? Do you remember that action in the 27th minute?’. ‘No, I haven’t seen it again’. ‘You haven’t seen it? Check Whatsapp and I’ll send you the images, look at them’.

“I have rarely seen such a demanding teammate. A teammate who makes these sacrifices on a daily basis for his career and for his sport, I really hope he can have all the glory he deserves and must get. In addition to being a stratospheric goalkeeper, he is a guy who gives 3000% for his job.”

Finally, Stefano Pioli…

“Always great respect. There’s the coach and there’s the man. Nothing to reproach the man for, always top, always sincere with me. The coach? I didn’t take it personally that he didn’t let me play.

“I’m one of those who thinks: if you’re stronger, the coach lets you play. I told myself that I had some shortcomings. I had to improve a lot defensively, in Italy there’s a lot of man-to-man play.”