At Everton from 2000-2007, Alessandro Pistone was one of the players who got to play with two English football greats, albeit at two different parts of their respective careers.
Between 2000-2002, the Italian left-back saw what really were the final years of Paul Gascoigne’s career in the Premier League, prior to his brief spell at Burnley, only to then witness the emergence of Wayne Rooney that very same 2002 year.
Ahead of Atalanta’s Europa League game against Everton, Gazzetta dello Sport had a chat with the retired defender to find out more about the two England stars, past and present.
On Gascoigne: “He was number one. He still made you play like only the greats do. Between injuries and sporadic form, he played little, but he was one of those people you couldn’t fail to love. A kid at heart. But he really had big personal problems.”
After his move to Burnley, the former Everton midfielder brief spells at Gansu Tianma in China and Boston United in America before retiring and managing Kettering Town in 2005.
As for Wayne Rooney, well, we all know how his career went, but Pistone will always remember the kid who emerged from the Toffees’ youth academy and blew the world away.
He said: “He left the academy when he was 16, joined us and had an amazing preseason. Even in the friendlies, he was a phenomenon. He came from a peripheral area of Liverpool that wasn’t easy.
“However, in those years, besides being a great guy because of his humility and dedication, he wasn’t anything like Gazza at the end of his career.”
Now back at Everton following a long and successful spell at Manchester United, Wayne Rooney’s return, while mostly well-received, hasn’t gone to plan, both personally and for the team.
Currently 16th in the Premier League, the Toffees, much like the Red Devils over the past few years, are struggling to get the best out of the 32-year-old, who has scored just five goals and provided one assist in 18 appearances.
But that wasn’t all Gazzetta asked Pistone about, and there was the inevitable question of whether or not he missed England.
He said: “From a professional point of view, I’d return there tomorrow, but for the lifestyle, no: going to the pub at half five… I made great friendships there that still go on today, and not just that. My wife is English.
“I actually knew her before I went to England. Maybe it was one of the reasons why, when I got the chance, I made this choice [to join Everton].”
