The emergence of Gianluigi Donnarumma was a surprising source of relief to the man he replaced at AC Milan, Diego Lopez has revealed.
While suffering from a knee injury prior to a Serie A fixture with Sassuolo early in the 2015/16 season, the Spaniard was replaced by the talented teenager who shone on his debut and hasn’t looked back since.
Lopez lost his place in the side and has since moved on to Espanyol and confessed that while he harboured no hard feelings over losing his place, he was angry with coach Sinisa Mihajlovic over how it happened.
“For me it was actually a relief when Donnarumma took over as goalkeeper because my knee had been destroyed for months,” Lopez told Sky Sport. “I knew how good Gigio was and could be.
“I wasn’t angry with Mihajlovic for the decision but rather for the way in which it was made. He knows that and I’m happy for Gigio. We are still close and I was lucky to share a dressing room with him.”
The Espanyol loanee also insisted that he keeps a close eye on the Rossoneri’s results and was grateful for the opportunity he received in Serie A.
“I always follow both Milan and Serie A,” continued the goalkeeper. “Carlo Ancelotti and William Vecchi had such a big impact on me at Real Madrid and have been very important to my career.
“They were very helpful to me when I received the offer from Milan and I’ll always be thankful to them and all of the staff at Milan too for everything.”
