Alessio Romagnoli blessed to be captain of AC Milan | OneFootball

Alessio Romagnoli took over the Milan captaincy this summer after Leonardo Bonucci returned to Juventus.

Now, the 23-year-old has spoken to the AC Milan official website about how it felt when he learned he would become the club’s leader.

“To be a defender, you have to be mature, even more than the attackers, because you have to think before them, and you have to understand before them.

“When you attack, you can allow yourself to be wrong, to be more carefree.”

“They told me (I would be captain) when Bonucci left. A few days later, [Milan manager Gennaro] Gattuso comes and asks me: ‘How do you feel?’ – The answer was obvious.

“But the responsibilities are only at a media level, while in the group and on the field, you do what you’ve always done.

“The captain’s armband can’t be rejected. It must be accepted with joy, not with fear. Milan will always be Milan, it is always an emotion, always an honor.”

Romagnoli believes that Italians are still the best at defending and he is proud to have learned from some of the greatest defenders in the world.

“I think that the Italian school is still the best in the world. Those pasts have been the best, and those present are as well, with [Giorgio] Chiellini, [Andrea] Barzagli, and Bonucci. I hope that us (young defenders in Italy) will be among the future.”

“I am very fond of playing the ball. It is normal to take risks.”