Former Milan captain Massimo Ambrosini, during a podcast on Cronache di Spogliatoio, shared a behind-the-scenes story from after his departure from Milan in 2013.
"I cried in the locker room while my teammates were celebrating. I already knew everything.” The Siena-Milan match ended, my last game in red and black. I had already realized they wouldn’t renew my contract, even though it hadn’t been officially confirmed yet. I didn’t say goodbye to the fans, I cried in the Siena locker room while everyone celebrated qualifying for the Champions League after the 2-1 victory, which was a miracle that year with Allegri. They didn’t know I was leaving, but I had already understood."
The next day I stayed in Siena, went to sleep at my agent Moreno Roggi’s place, then we took a plane to London to talk with Sam Allardyce because West Ham had asked for information and wanted me. We arrived and talked about everything except football. I thought it would be a meeting about money, football, instead he didn’t talk about anything. I kept kicking my agent and saying, ‘Oh, we came all the way to London…’."
Ambrosini added:
"After he finished his first course, he got up and said: ‘Sorry, I have to go to the training ground because a new player arrived and I have to show him the sports center.’ So I sent a message to my agent and said, ‘Let’s go to the bathroom.’ There I told him, ‘Is this guy crazy? He makes me come all the way to London and leaves halfway through lunch.’ So we left, I returned to Italy, and signed with Fiorentina. The day I signed, West Ham’s offer arrived.”
