- 3 months ago
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00:00Welcome back again. Welcome to the press conference to unveil David Odogu. Hi David.
00:10David, you've signed for Milan. You're a very young player. And in instances such as these,
00:19people say that you need to take all the time possible in order to settle in, to develop.
00:25But are you also thinking about being ready for the first time that the head coach calls upon you, David?
00:33Yes, thank you first. I think that the first days here were very good.
00:39The team, the coach, everything was very good. It was very nice to me and I had a warm welcome.
00:44And yeah, I know I'm very young, but I also know my qualities and I just want to be humble.
00:50I want to learn from the experience, guys. I want to learn from the coach and develop every day, work hard,
00:58get better every day. And yeah, I will do everything to be ready when the coach needs me, when he calls me to play.
01:05Emanuele Bagliocchini.
01:09Sky. Hi David. Welcome to Milan.
01:13We don't know much about you. So I'd like to ask you a bit more about that, both in terms of Odogu as a player on the pitch.
01:20What sort of player are you? Which player do you look up to? And in terms of you as a guy off the pitch,
01:26how will we get to know you? What will you learn about that?
01:30Yeah. I'm a centre-back, of course. Sorry. I'm a centre-back, of course. I'm a defender. I like to defend.
01:38I love to defend the goal. I love to play duels defensively. I love to win headers. I love to clean sheets.
01:46I love to organise the defence. And yeah, I want to focus on the defence's work. Of course, I want to also be good in build-up.
01:57And yeah, I'm very aggressive. I'm very physical. I want to win all my 1v1s. I'm very aggressive and have the mentality to win every game and defend my own goal.
02:10And outside of the pitch, I am, yes, I'm a believer. I believe in God. I like to do every kind of sports, for example, like table tennis or things.
02:20I like to play games. And yeah, that's it.
02:31Can you tell us about your first memory relating to Milan even as a kid? Are there any players you look up to?
02:39Yeah, when the first memory comes to my head is when we talk about players, example, is Maldini.
02:45He's on my position. He's a big, big legend. And yeah, for my position as a centre-back, he, for me, is the greatest one who ever played.
02:54So yeah, this is my first memory when I think about Milan, but also, yeah, other legends that played like for the club.
03:02Yeah, big players like Hullit or also Nestor on my position or Baresi. I can name all of them also.
03:10A German one who also was born in Berlin, Kevin Prinz-Boateng. He lived born in my city.
03:16So yeah, there are a lot of, a lot of things. But and also the stadium is very, with a lot of history.
03:24So yeah, there are a lot of things. But when the first thing I remember is like Paolo Maldini.
03:30Luca Bianchi, Gazzetta dello Sport. Gazzetta dello Sport. I'm over here.
03:38I wanted to ask you something about transfer deadline day because you popped up out of nowhere.
03:44It was a name we weren't really expecting. So I wanted to ask you when you first heard from Milan.
03:49I know that you're on Milan's shortlist and had been for a while, but we weren't aware of that.
03:53So I wanted to know whether they'd already contacted you before that or on deadline day directly.
03:59Yeah, so it was last minute transfer. So the first time during the window sometimes my manager like doesn't tell me anything directly when there's like interest or so.
04:12So it was very surprising for me also. Like I think 24 hours before the window would be closed.
04:20So one day before I had a call with my agent and he told me that Milano is interested.
04:26So I was very happy, I was very excited. But now I'm thankful that the deal worked and that I'm here now and I'm very happy.
04:37But it was also a surprise for me as well.
04:41Antonello Gioia, Corrierello Sport. Hi David, I'm over here.
04:47Antonello Gioia, you were born in the summer of 2006 in Berlin and Italy won the World Cup in Berlin in the summer of 2006.
04:56What's your relationship with the national team? Do you hope to make it via Milan?
05:02Do you think Italy was fated to be part of your football life?
05:08That's a nice question. Yeah, of course. Yeah, I follow when I, since I can watch and can understand football, I always watch every World Cup.
05:19Yeah, in 2006 I wasn't able to watch it for myself. But yeah, I know about this. I know that they won this time in Berlin.
05:28It's a special nice coincidence. And yeah, maybe there was a sign also then that Italian is my destiny.
05:34Francesco Letizia, Sport Italia, Sport Italia. Good afternoon and welcome to the club.
05:49Two years ago you were involved in the U17 World Cup in Indonesia and there was Pao Kubarsi playing for Spain.
05:59There was Echeverri for Argentina, Esteval for Brazil. But Germany won that U17 World Cup with David Odoku as a starter.
06:09I wanted to know whether you now want to show that you're able to show that you're up to the same level as those big names.
06:18And I'm sure you want to achieve something similar.
06:21Yeah, when I think back about the World Cup was a very, very nice experience, of course.
06:26And yeah, I also know or followed the guys I played against and I saw this was a big guys, like you mentioned, like big names like Echeverri, for example, or Mark Giui or Pao Kubarsi.
06:39And yeah, this also gives me like self-confidence because at the end we won the tournament.
06:45I played against all and we won all games. So I know my qualities. I know that I can compete with top talents and top players.
06:52And yeah, it's now time for me to show this also here in this big club. And yeah, it was a very nice tournament. And yeah, I'm happy that I won this tournament.
07:04But now I have to also show that I'm among on the list with the big names.
07:08Hi, coming back to this question. In Italy, we're always a little bit protective of young players and people say that they need time that they have to develop, whereas they might be a bit braver overseas and they accept mistakes a bit more.
07:34A number of young players have come through at Milan over the years and that's what allowed the team to win the Scudetto.
07:41Do you have the ambition and the desire to show that a player born in 2006 in Italy can become a regular in the first team at a big club like Milan?
07:53Does Italian football need to be a bit braver in blooding young players?
07:59Yeah. So, yeah, I know, like I said, I'm young. I know this. But can you repeat the question one more time?
08:10Do you want to show that a young player like you can become a first team regular for a big club like Milan in a country where there's not a great deal of patience with young players in the footballing system?
08:38Yeah, that's of course my goal. I came here to one day to play every Sunday, every game. I want to be a starter one day at this club. That's of course my goal.
08:47And I want to show to everyone in the whole country that a young player can be ready and can do this in a short time.
08:57Like I said, I know I have not so much experience, but I also know my skills. I know I also played professional games in the Bundesliga against players against teams like Leipzig, for example.
09:09Like Cesco and stuff. I played against them. So I know that I can compete with them. But now I want to show it here and compete week after week on top level. And that's my goal for here.
09:22For here I wouldn't sign for a club when I don't want to play here regularly. So yeah, that's my goal. That's my ambition. And for this I want to work hard. I want to do everything possible.
09:34And I think here with the top facilities in Milan, I have the best possibilities to work on myself and to get ready very fast for the league, for the club, for the ambitions of the club.
09:49Franco Ordine and then Michael Cuomo. I'm over here. I wanted to ask you, besides you signing at the 11th hour for Milan, it didn't really cause a great deal of excitement amongst the fan base.
10:10I wanted to ask you whether this gives you additional motivation or does it add pressure to you?
10:17Yeah, of course, it motivates me as well. And I know that when you come to a big club, like this club is a big club, when you come to a big club, I know you have always pressure, you have always expectations that are very high.
10:30And I know how to handle with this. And yeah, it's for me a big motivation to show what I can do on the pitch. And I want to let my performances speak to everyone.
10:44And yeah, that's what I want to say. I just want to work until now and just do my job.
10:51You're coached by a gaffer who's very focused on defending and defenders. I'd like to ask you what has he said to you when you met him?
11:10What position were you playing? Could it be in a back three? Are you ready for whatever happens back there? Because there is scope for the defence to be asked a bit more?
11:25Yeah, I will be ready for every task the coach or everyone gave to me. Yesterday he was also in the session and he explained me already some things about defensive work.
11:38And I'm very, very thankful that this is my coach now because I know he is a specialist for defenders. And yeah, I'm very motivated to learn a lot from him in my defensive work.
11:50And yeah, for me, it don't matter if I play in a back four, back three, I can play all of the positions. And yeah, I'm very, very motivated to learn all the tactical stuff to learn how to play in the, like to get used to the tactical expectations from the coach.
12:09And yeah, I'm really happy that I am under this coach now and I know I will learn a lot from him and from the whole coaching stuff as well, of course.
12:20Hi David, welcome to Milan. You can see how happy you are on your face because of this experience. What has struck you most about Milan over the last few days in terms of the facilities, senior management?
12:36Are there certain teammates that are helping you out a bit more and have been in the first few days?
12:41Yeah, everything for now, everything is like just so professional here. Everything is just so big. And now I really understand what it means to be like a big club like this.
12:54And yeah, everything is top organized. The guys taking care of me very well, like the staff, everyone around is super professional.
13:05And yeah, it's a very, very, very top organized club here. And yeah, of course, also the players are helping me. They are nice to me. They get in touch with me. They want to speak.
13:16Of course, I have to improve my language skills in Italian to even get better in touch with them or communicate better with the coaching staff.
13:27But I will take lessons, for sure. And yeah, everything is just very, very nice here. And I feel that this is a club with a big history and that the jersey is heavy on me.
13:42Hi, I'm over here. Can see that you're very excited. You can see it from the smile on your face. You've come to Milan after very few professional games.
14:01Did you expect to be surprised by this phone call? Do you think you need to work hard to try and make up the gap maybe coming to a big team?
14:14You came through the academy, you played in the B team and it's a big step up. Are you concerned about this?
14:20It's not shocking for me. I always believed in my qualities. But of course, the call now at the last day of the transfer window was also a kind of surprise for me.
14:32But yeah, I'm very thankful. I'm very happy that the club believes in me, that they saw my potential, that they saw my qualities.
14:40And now it's just time for me to show them, like to don't, I don't know how you say it now, but to meet their expectations or to pay back the trust they gave in me.
14:53And that's my task now. That's my goal now. And yeah, that's what I want to do. But I'm again very thankful, very happy that I can sign for this club.
15:02And yeah, I'm very happy for the trust that the club gave to me.
15:09Mattia Giangaspero, Milanisticello.
15:12Hi, David. Welcome to Milan.
15:16Italy won the World Cup the year you were born, 2006. I wanted to add a statistic.
15:22In that Italy's side, there was only one player who in the history of Milan that first played for Wolfsburg and then Milan.
15:31It was Christian Zaccardo. In his first season in Bundesliga, Christian Zaccardo won the Bundesliga.
15:38What's your aim for this season at Milan?
15:43Yeah, my objective, you mean personally or for the whole team?
15:47I can just answer both. Yeah, of course, we as a team, we want to win every game.
15:54That's of course, we are Milan. We want to go in the game and don't play for draw.
15:59We always want to go in the game to win the game. And yeah, that's our ambition.
16:04We want to work hard as a team together, get close as a team and get the maximum of the season.
16:09And that's why we are here to work and go in every game to win.
16:14That's the ambition for the team, for the club. And yeah, for my personal ambitions, I just want to improve myself.
16:23I want to, like I said, show what my qualities get and help the team how I can to get the best out of the season.
16:33Last two questions. Welcome David.
16:43Just coming back to your excitement, we've read a lot of comparisons in terms of your skill set with a great defender like Antonio Rudiger.
16:52Does that frighten you? Does that excite you? What do you think you share in terms of attributes with Rudiger?
17:00First, I'm very glad that I get comparisons to him. Yes, I also want to be aggressive.
17:07I think on my positions, it's necessary to be aggressive like him, to be a leader. I want to be a leader on the pitch.
17:14And yeah, I want to be also like him. I want to have the mentality to do everything to defend my own goal.
17:22And for this, I'm very glad for this comparison. But I know I have to work hard to get on his level.
17:30But yeah, I also want to go in the games with the same mentality as him or defend the goal with the same mentality and do everything, like I said, to protect my goal.
17:45Before we finish, let's go to l'equipe. Valentin Pauluzzi. Hi, David. Welcome to the club.
17:52You'll have as a goalkeeper and captain Mike Meignot. Are you curious to get to know him and play with him?
17:58Yes, I'm very happy. He's one of the best in his position at the moment. And I know he's a leader.
18:05I know he's a good captain. And I'm very happy that I have this experienced goalkeeper behind me.
18:11And I'm happy to learn from him a lot, happy to get his input, get his tips that he has for me.
18:18And yeah, of course, he's a great goalkeeper who will save us a lot of goals. And I'm very happy to play with him.
18:25Carlo Pellegatti. Hi. Two questions. First, I'm slightly curious. I know that in the U17 World Cup, you actually took some exams, history and geography.
18:44Are you still studying? Because you look like you're still a student. And I wanted to know whether you're still studying.
18:51Schweizer Stern in Germany means the second star. Do you know that you could make history at Milan like all of the players this season?
19:02Because if you were to win the Scudetto, you wouldn't only lift a trophy. You'd also record the 20th Scudetto of the club's history and you'd get a second star.
19:10Everyone would love to be in that photo. Do you realise that this is a unique season for everyone in the squad?
19:17Yes. So to your first question, yes, I passed the exam and but now I have my degree in school. So I'm finished with the school.
19:25I want to now can focus fully on football. But yes, on the second question, of course, it's a special year today, a special year this year.
19:36And yeah, I want to, like I said, get the best out of the season. And yeah.
19:46Thank you very much, everyone. Thanks, David. And welcome to Milan.
19:49Thank you very much to all. Thank you.
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