Guidi elated after becoming Milan Primavera boss: “A source of great pride” | OneFootball

AC Milan’s new Primavera coach Federico Guidi has spoken about how much of an honour it is to join the club that he grew up being a fan of.

It had been rumoured for some time that Guidi would be taking over from Ignazio Abate, who vacated the position at the end of last season when his contract expired in order to take a job at a senior side, and it was confirmed this afternoon.

He knows Vincenzo Vergine well, who is the head of the youth sector at Milan, given they were both at Roma together. He was previously coach of Roma Primavera, who were beaten last month in the Scudetto final against Sassuolo by a scoreline of 3-0.

They had finished second in the table behind Inter with 19 wins in 34 games, but were unable to lift the trophy, though he did win theCoppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana in his spell in charge.

Guidi spoke to Milan TV after it was confirmed that he is taking over from Abate and he expressed his pride at having been trusted with the role.

How do you feel after signing?

“Milan is a strong emotion for me, I don’t hide the fact that I’ve been a fan since I was little. Arriving here at Casa Milan and seeing so many photos, these colours that have accompanied me in my childhood and adolescence was something truly special for me.

“I would struggle to find the right words to describe what I’m feeling right now. It’s a source of great pride to be called by a prestigious club at a world level like Milan, and therefore I’m also aware of the great responsibilities that I’m taking on.

“There’s great happiness, now it’s a whirlwind of emotions but at the same time there’s a great desire to begin this magnificent journey.”

What did you take from your experience at Roma?

“Roma for me was an extremely formative experience because it is a club that has given me so much in these two years, I had the opportunity to experience the daily work with mister Mourinho and then mister De Rossi.

“I was lucky enough to win important trophies such as the Coppa Italia and the Supercoppa. It’s a shame we weren’t able to close our journey by winning the Scudetto, but the thing I like most were the many debuts that we managed to make by bringing the boys into the first team, and I think that for us in the youth sector this is our mission and our greatest achievement.”

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At Milan you meet Vincenzo Vergine again…

“He was the strongest motivation that led me to accept Milan’s proposal, in addition to the great prestige of the club. I have shared many years with Professor Vergine, I have shared the vision of the youth sector, the vision of how to help young players grow.

“I share with him all the values ​​that must belong to reach the greatest goal, that is, trying to project as many players as possible into football that counts. He was a great driving force for me, now after all these years that we have shared together we have also established a relationship that goes beyond the professional aspect.”

You will continue the work of Abate…

“Mister Abate, who I had the pleasure of meeting in these two years that I was at Roma, I know how well he did. I often complimented him because the team played very good football, he gave a lot to the boys and I saw them grow in these two years.

“I share the philosophy of the club, I think that being able to anticipate and accelerate as much as possible the path of the player entering adult football. I will bring all my experiences, trying to give that little bit more for this type of objective following the path that was traced by Mister Abate.”

What is your vision?

“My modus operandi is to go and study and try to learn as much as possible from those who are doing very well, in this case in the youth sector.

“There were so many players who had made the transition to the second team abroad and who were able to project themselves into the first teams of clubs with very high European profiles. Even into the senior national teams. For me it was a tool that we in Italy also had to achieve.

“I think that Milan, like Juventus and Atalanta, firmly believes in the U23 project. It is a tool that allows us to have even more years to train the boy and above all to never lose control and then project him into our first team: it is the result and the objective that we all set ourselves.”