Francesco Acerbi has no regrets at rejecting Leicester City, reveals his secret to going through chemotherapy and “I wonder why Domenico Berardi isn’t at Real Madrid.”
The defender will face his former club Milan on Sunday, but it feels like a lifetime ago with all that has happened since that brief San Siro spell.
Francesco Acerbi has no regrets at rejecting Leicester City, reveals his secret to going through chemotherapy and “I wonder why Domenico Berardi isn’t at Real Madrid.”
The defender will face his former club Milan on Sunday, but it feels like a lifetime ago with all that has happened since that brief San Siro spell.
“I felt like I had ‘arrived’ at Milan. With the mentality I’ve got now, I could’ve stayed there for 10 years, but I was living in a world made of alibis, 5kg overweight and all the advice from Max Allegri and Adriano Galliani just washed over me,” Acerbi told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“I had lost the moment I arrived, but despite all of that, I don’t remember my time at Milan as a painful memory. I do think it was a pity. I was still too green.”
Things changed rapidly for Acerbi when he went to Sassuolo and as part of a routine medical discovered he had testicular cancer.
The illness returned a few months later and this too was found by accident – when he failed a doping test because of elevated levels of a hormone caused by the tumour.
“I became a fan of Masterchef during chemotherapy. I’d watch it on TV to make myself hungry. After the illness, I was helped by a psychologist, as I was devastated by a sense of guilt over everything.
“Now two years have passed and I still go once a week. It’s no longer indispensable, but helps me open my mind and feel more content.”
Leicester City and Claudio Ranieri desperately wanted Acerbi in the January transfer window, offering over €10m, but why didn’t he make the move?
“Leicester was a good opportunity for me to play in the Premier League and the Champions League. Ranieri called me three times and I was very clear with him: If Sassuolo opened the door, I’d be happy to come, otherwise forget it. I would not get into a fight with Sassuolo, the club I feel so much gratitude towards.
“Maybe if it had been Arsenal, I would’ve thought differently… I don’t know if I’ll get that chance again, but I do think I’ll play for a top club. Between Leicester and Inter, it’s no question, I’d definitely pick Inter all the way.”
Acerbi could be joined at San Siro by another Sassuolo teammate, as Berardi has been heavily linked with Inter as well as Juventus.
“Every now and then I wonder to myself: Why is Berardi not playing for Real Madrid already? Nobody in Italy has his quality and now he has finally changed his mentality too.
“He has fantastic talent and thinks ahead of the rest. He risked ruining his own career with his reactions on the field and didn’t feel ready for the step up, but he is now.
“I want to say he’ll go on his conditions and will never go where the others tell him to. Juventus know that and the example of what happened to Simone Zaza didn’t help.”