The AC Milan technical director, Paolo Maldini, released these words to DAZN ahead of the game against Roma:
"Covid? I would say that it would be appropriate to arrive at a common solution, which includes a document that ensures that we can reach the end of the championship and that is also approved by the government. The only way to agree is to sit down and try to face the matches with absences. Today out of nine defenders, we have four. One is injured like Kjaer, one is in the African Cup, the others have caught the virus. Is that a problem? Yes. Shall we back down? No. It has always been our idea, the pandemic has created many other problems. Until a common document is made, I believe that unfortunately the treatments will be different but I must not feel penalised."
Maldini on Botman:
"Botman is a very good player. He plays for Lille and has a contract until 2024. Of course he is not the only good player, there are other players available. Perhaps the only need right now, due to Simon's injury, is that of a defender. Then if we will make a defender on loan for six months or a definitive solution for the next few years, we will also have to evaluate based on the price of the player himself and the type of player we will identify."
On the ambition of winning the Serie A title and the youth project:
"Last year I tried to push the idea of getting to the title a little bit but it was a bit of a gamble. In football and in life many times you have to try to aim for the maximum, only by having very big goals can you reach the maximum. At the beginning of this year I was laughing because they didn't even put us in the top four", said Maldini, "I knew we were stronger than last year also because last year's young players have an extra year of experience and therefore it is clear that a there had to be improvement. Unfortunately, we cannot think of Berlusconi's AC Milan, and I say unfortunately because Berlusconi's AC Milan took on the best players in the world and instead this AC Milan must be sustainable. Don't expect multi-million hits. We will always try to be sustainable because this is the mission given to us by the owners."
