Tiemoue Bakayoko has been enjoying his loan spell at AC Milan after enduring a slow start to life in the Premier League with Chelsea and even in the early days of his time at the San Siro. Now, however, the French midfielder has seen his form improve which has given him the confidence to claim that ‘all the fans have changed their minds about me’ and that he is ‘most like’ Arsenal legend, Patrick Vieira.
Bakayoko has grown into being a crucial member of Milan’s midfield since arriving from Chelsea on loan last summer, and the France international gave more insight into his spell at San Siro. “I think all the fans have changed their mind about me and I’m happy about that,” he told Milan TV. “I’m very happy, the team are playing well and improved a lot. I think the last three or four games, teams haven’t scored against us and I think we need to keep going, but I’m very happy to be here, to finish the season well.”
The former AS Monaco man continued: “All the players are my friends, I’m a friendly guy and I don’t have a problem with anyone. We have a good relationship. I know my teammates well, they know me better than two months ago. I’m just working hard and trying to be better for the team. I’m happy in this period and I’m playing well. I’m very humble, if I’m here it’s because the team are playing very well. I just listen to music, relax and talk to Franck Kessie because he’s funny and after that, I’m on my game.”
Bakayoko went on to talk about his drive to succeed as a footballer and see Milan do well, even claiming he sees himself more in the mould of Vieira: “I always try to improve. I’m here for just six months but I think after nine months I’ll be better with the team. We just have to work and improve in every training session and match. I’ve prepared something for when I score my first goal, but I can’t show you now…. Piatek’s a fast player, intelligent, and I think he’ll help the team quickly. He scored two goals in our last game and I’m happy for him. I think with him we can really finish in the top four. I’m most like Vieira because he’s tall, strong and he has a lot of technical ability. I think I’m most like this type of player. I just want to thank the fans for their confidence in me. We need them to finish in the top [four] places.”
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