“A list of clubs” – Amorim makes revelation regarding Estupinan and drop-off vs. Atalanta

There were a couple of interesting responses from Ruben Amorim in his press conference after the win over Atalanta.

One of the bigger storylines of the summer concerned Pervis Estupinan. The full-back seemed to be on his way to Aston Villa, but Amorim reportedly told the management not to sell him until he had evaluated him, then revealing his desire to keep the Ecuadorian.

In the conference room at San Siro after the full-time whistle, a reporter asked Amorim about his decision to not only keep hold of Estupinan, but also to keep putting him on the field in delicate situations. MilanNews relayed his words.

“Even at other clubs, sometimes the fans don’t like certain players too much. We have to help Estupinan, we have to help the fans understand who Estupinan is, and I can assure you that Estupinan works really hard.

“He’s a player who has played in the Premier League, and I can assure you that at the end of the transfer window, we had a list of clubs that wanted him. But I said no. So I want the fans to know that it was my responsibility.

“He’s playing because I chose Estupinan, because I believe in him and I’m convinced that he will be truly important for our team. But I understood that feeling from the first match.

“We simply have to help Estupinan, because we are a team: if one of our team-mates suffers because of this, the whole team suffers with him and stands by him.”

One of the other topics that the head coach was questioned on concerned the clear drop-off in performance level after the third goal, and whether that was more of a physical or a mental issue for his team.

“We played well for 60 minutes. I won’t say it was just due to fatigue, because a minute earlier, when everything was going well, they weren’t tired, and then the situation changed completely. So it’s mainly a mental factor.

“Only then do you realize how tired you are, also because Atalanta started to believe. This is football, and today at San Siro we saw what football is: beautiful moments and very difficult moments, it’s all part of the game.

“Things won’t change overnight: we’ll have positive moments and difficult moments. We just have to stay competitive, and if we can get home a result even in these kinds of moments, that’s fine.”