Pirlo: 'I'd be at Chelsea now if...'
Andrea Pirlo says if he didn’t believe Milan could win the Scudetto this season, he “would be at Chelsea right now.”
It was the decision to reject a £10m plus Claudio Pizarro offer for the midfielder that prompted the Rossoneri turnaround in transfer policy, signing Klaas Jan Huntelaar for £12.5m.
“I knew there was an important offer on the table from Chelsea and my agent kept me up to date, but I did not spend the summer glued to the telephone,” he told the Gazzetta dello Sport.
“The reason was very simple – I wanted to stay at Milan and never asked to leave. I must also confess that I already knew about what was going to happen three nights before [President Silvio] Berlusconi flew in.”
The turnaround was announced following a transfer summit between Berlusconi, Coach Leonardo and Vice-President Adriano Galliani.
Carlo Ancelotti was determined to be reunited with Pirlo at Stamford Bridge, but was left sorely disappointed.
“Did Ancelotti take it well? Erm, not really,” confessed the midfielder. “He was disappointed, but he understood. I told him Leonardo made it a crucial point to keep me and that made me very proud.
“Something should be made very clear: if I thought Milan’s objective was just a decent placement, I would be at Chelsea right now. I want to win. These are not just words, I am convinced it is possible.”
The Rossoneri are behind favourites Inter and Juventus in the Scudetto odds, but Pirlo is confident the 'old guard’ can shine again.
“You will all realise this year what the veterans can do. It is an advantage for us to start out in the shadows and you cannot imagine how motivating that kind of prejudice is. We’ll force many people to eat their words.
“We are Milan, we play to win for the Scudetto, Champions League and Coppa Italia. I remained because we will be competitive on every front.”
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:rofl2: Someone please remind me to come back to this page in May.