Would you maybe want to end your career at Milan?
"I have already made my history here at AC Milan, so this isn't the case here anymore at the moment. If this could've happened, it should've been before I joined Chelsea. But I don't know about the future. Who knows what will happen. We will have to think then. I am very happy to be at Chelsea, a very big club great professionals. In the future, we will see, maybe [I will come back] as the coach. Who knows."
Do you feel you can play every game at your age? Did you feel frustrated at the weekend, for instance, that you didn't play?
"I feel very well. The only thing is that after the game against Crystal Palace, I got a cold and so I had to recover. I am well, although I am not recovered 100% from the cold. So there was no frustration. I spoke with the manager, and he took the decision to let me rest a little ahead of this important match. I am 38 years old, so maybe I can't play four or five matches in a row. In any case, I think I can give my help with my experience to the team. I think being managed carefully, as [Thomas] Tuchel started and also now with [Graham] Potter continued, I am very happy with the way they are managing me, and I believe I can still give a good contribution to the team."
Can you tell us about your emotions of being back here and playing again at San Siro? And what.do you think AC Milan are missing at the moment?
"I am very happy and excited to be here again after 11 or 12 years. All the nice experiences I've had here came back to my mind, and tomorrow, I will be even more excited and moved. I will have to be mentally strong and focused, not the match, because there is going to be a great emotion. Regarding what you said about AC Milan not being highly competitive, this is your opinion, and I don't think so. I see AC Milan getting better and better. They had a bad game last week against us, that can happen, but great clubs like AC Milan won't do it twice. They had a great result against Juventus, so they are strongly motivated to do a great match tomorrow night. I can tell myself and the team that we will need to make great efforts because it is never going to be easy to play here at San Siro against AC Milan."
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Are you still hoping to have another contract at Chelsea, and have any talks taken place yet?
"It is not the right time to talk about new contracts, so I can not accurately answer this question. For me now, what is important is to continue playing to the high level and helping the team achieve the best possible results. For sure, there will be the time where we will need to talk. It could be before the World Cup or after the World Cup because, of course, I need to know whether I will have a new contract with Chelsea for my family arrangements. It is not easy. If I won't have a new contract, I will have to decide what to do, and also, for my family, this is an important decision, so we will see what will happen."
How much have you enjoyed playing with N'Golo Kante, and how big a loss is he when he is not playing?
"It's not easy for a player like N'Golo to have an injury at an important time of the season. For him to recover, be back and be a protagonist is not easy at all. I am very happy to have had the opportunity to meet and play with him. He is a special person, rather unique. Probably nobody else in the world is maybe like him. So for sure, he is going through a difficult period, and I wish him the best to recover as soon as possible. With Kante, we will be much stronger as we used to be when he was with us."
Who has impressed you among the Milan defenders, and what emotions will you have tomorrow night?
“For sure [Fikayo] Tomori. I have met him and stuck with him for some months [at Chelsea] before he decided to join Milan. I knew it wouldn't have been easy for him to change country and culture, but he proved to be very good. He has consolidated his ability and skills, and I always say for a defender, the best football school you could have is here in Italy. I'm happy for him because he is a very developed and grown-up player. There is going to be great emotion tomorrow night. My wife was very moved when we were in London, and we played against Milan. So for sure, tomorrow night, my wife will cry for the emotion, but in the end, I hope we will be able to laugh together after a win. That is the most important part of tomorrow."
You mentioned Tomori, but what are your thoughts on Milan as a team, Rafael Leao, Olivier Giroud and Theo Hernandez?
"The forward line of AC Milan is very impressive, and the way they perform means tomorrow it is going to be a very difficult match. It will be difficult for us to defend. For sure, with Leao, we'll have to be very focused and make sure he can't get the ball. If those players give him the ball, they will be dangerous because if he gets the ball, they can score, and it's not only him because Giroud is in the box. So it is a challenge and difficult forward line. It's not going to be easy, but that is why we have to be focused. Theo is a very good player, one of the best in the side right. He is also very good at defending. We have to be careful of the whole squad because a good team is not only one, two, three good players. It's the whole squad who work well, so we have to be focused on all of them."
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