Kjaer announces Milan departure in emotional interview: 'My club, my place'

This summer is expected to be one of change for AC Milan, and Simon Kjaer’s departure is one of several that will be massively felt around the club. In an interview today, he spoke about what being a Milanista means and gave an insight into his emotions. 

Saturday’s game of the season will be the final chance for Milan to bid farewell to a central defender who has remained consistent throughout his spell, leading from the back and offering vital support to his teammates when needed.

As has been the story for many players this season, it has not been his most positive season for the club, with the Dane battling injuries at a rate too consistent for the Diavolo to consider extending his stay, but his loss will be felt, as a player, as a person, as Milan’s ‘Viking’.

Kjaer sat down with MilanTV, and his words have been relayed by Milan News.

We have reached the end of this long adventure, what emotions do you feel?

“Many, positive and negative. I’ve had the feeling for a couple of months that it was right to end now, and then there will be a new adventure’.

Do you feel that the end has come at the right time?

“Yes. In my journey over these four years I have come to a good point. But I could obviously also give more, to help even more. The time is right.

Do you already have clear ideas for your post-European future?

“Let’s say I have divided my future into three parts. There’s a week to be available for my last game at San Siro and still wear the Milan shirt. Then there’s an adventure with Denmark, which is always very special. And after that I have to find the place where I can continue playing football. The most important thing is this week.

How do you approach this new experience?

“Zero fear. I think I have tried so much in my career, I have experience to understand that fear doesn’t give you anything. I have great curiosity and a great desire to impact on a new group as I have done here.”

You always said AC Milan was a dream…

“I came to Italy when I was 19 years old to Palermo. There I immediately told my procurator: ‘I want to go to AC Milan’. It took some time, but in the end I came here and this is my club, my place and it will always be like this. When I arrived here, Milan was in a very difficult period that had lasted many years. Paolo [Maldini] and Ricky [Massara] brought me here to make an impact, especially on the youngsters, give continuity and make the group grow. I think I’ve done my job.”

You arrived on tiptoes and in silence, did you expect this impact?

“Of course it always depends on the group, I was lucky, that Zlatan came with me. I never needed to shout or give that kind of stimulus. I was able to work on individuals, show every day that you had to arrive early to work and go home late. Before I got here there were 2-3 players at training in the gym. Now everyone is there. It’s also been a journey with the coach’s staff. Now there’s no one relaxing.”

You are the last veteran of this cycle… It has been a long film. What’s in it and what growth has it been for this group?

“Quality is not enough. To improve and for the team to grow you have to know how to suffer and have the right mentality to work and look forward. You can do many things with a group, even with less quality. In football there is only one thing that rules, and that is mentality. Everyone knows how to play football. For the budget Milan has spent in the last four years, there are few in Europe who have managed to do what we have done.”

You always believed in it, in the 20/21 season you said that this was the strongest team in Italy: the following year the Scudetto arrived. What did you understand that from?

“Quality. You can’t talk about the Scudetto if you don’t have quality. If you can have these high standards every day then you can do things that nobody expected. I don’t think anyone expected that, not even the real Milan fans.”

In the year of the Scudetto, you had a long injury… But what do you feel it’s particularly yours for?

“If I could change one thing in my career I would definitely say the injury. But it made me grow so much. You have to take advantage of the moments you have. It was easier the pure joy in my work but also at home with my family. I was very aware of the things I was doing even before, but now it’s twice as much. If you have to do 10 maybe at some point you do 9, then 8 and so on.

“But every time you go from 10 to 9 you have to realise that you have lost 10 per cent. And if you put it all together it becomes a lot. If you make people understand this then the team can grow even more. We have come a long way, we have grown a lot. But we still have to improve.”

How important was your wife’s support along the way?

“Fundamental. If you’re not well at home you’re not well outside. As much as I love Milan, compared to my family, Milan is the ‘away’ side. Milan is also home to my children, they speak better Italian than Danish. Milan has become home.”

He is shown Simon with the greetings of many children and youngsters from Milan’s youth sector…

“Nice, thank you [he smiles].”

What is the characteristic you want to be remembered for?

“As a defender, I left an impact on the boys with this grit. It’s a part of me that I will always have, even when I no longer play football.”

How important was Milan for you and how proud was being nominated among the top 30 in the Ballon d’Or?

“The path I had with AC Milan was the dream I had for my career. To have the chance, at the age of 32, to go to the Golden Ball with the Milan shirt… When I was 18 I would have put my signature on it.”

Why is Milan so special?

“Definitely the history. When I was a boy the top was Milan. Even Paolo [Maldini] had an impact on that, he was the strongest defender in the world. And when you’re a defender you follow that kind of player’.

Another tablet moment, this time with video greetings from his teammates and Pioli. The coach greets him like this…

“You always went in search of perfection, it was a great stimulus to work with you, I’m sure you’ll get the best out of your next experiences and out of life because you are the top’.

Simon replies…

“I had an impact then… [laughs].”

The thing that emerges from these messages is your human aspect. Is that the thing you’re most pleased about?

“Of course. It’s the most important thing. It’s the only thing that remains. That’s why I’m happy. Proud, I’m pleased.”

What does being a team mean to you?

“Everything. It all starts from there, you need everyone to do it. You can’t make a team if five people don’t follow you, then it doesn’t become a team. If you are in trouble the group can help you. This is the first group in my career that gives me the same feeling I have when I go to the national team, which is a 14-year journey. Here I have been four years.

You never backed down when you needed to put your face to it…

“There are moments of joy and there are moments when you get slapped. I have never needed to go and speak in good moments. I know that when I get home my family congratulates me if I had a good game or we did something. In difficult moments it’s natural for me to put my face there to ‘take the slaps’. In my career I have also paid for these things. But when you hear messages like that from your teammates, I have confirmation that it is the right thing to do.”

The relationship with his teammates…

“I have always been available for them. Whether I play with Gabbia, Tomori, Kalulu or Thiaw the basics have to be the same for everyone because we don’t decide who plays. But if I can have continuity with the person playing on my left then 8 times out of 10 I can know what he is doing.”

Do you see them ready to go it alone?

“Yes. They have a lot of quality. Fik is perhaps the one with the most experience, now he has to make that leap. Either you become a good, good player, but he has all the possibilities to become one of the strongest in the world with his characteristics. The others have the same possibilities, but it takes a bit more time because they are younger.”

What relationship have you built with the Milan fans?

“A relationship that is very close to my heart. I was surprised how, last year and this year, they behaved with us. I didn’t expect it. We too, with my children, have become Milan fans.”

A final message…

‘I thank everyone. The path I’ve had here, the pride, the dream that has given me so much joy and so much satisfaction in my career and in my life. In the future, when I stop playing football, I think I will return to Milan to live with my family. Milan is our home.”