“How could I say no?” – No regrets over leaving Chelsea and taking on ‘big challenge’

Samuele Dalla Bonna has insisted he has no regrets over leaving Chelsea club to join AC Milan in 2002.

Dalla Bonna came through at Chelsea in the late 90s, having joined the club’s youth ranks in a move from Atalanta U19’s in 1998.

By the following year, he had been promoted to the Blues first team and would go on to be a regular in the side from there, making 73 appearances for the club in all competitions in the following three years.

By 2002 he had moved on to Italian giants AC Milan in a £1.44m deal and would go on to win the Champions League and Italian Cup with the club.

Embed from Getty Images

However, his time was far from successful on a personal level, with him managing just 16 appearances in all competitions and spending most of his time out on loan before a free transfer to Napoli in 2006.

For most, leaving Chelsea would be considered a major mistake, but he insists that is not how he views it.

“It was a big challenge, and I was convinced to find my space,” he told TuttoMercatoWeb.

“But there were indeed stratospheric players, and in hindsight, I should be proud to have played 16 games, even scoring a goal.

“Chelsea were a good team and growing, but Milan were Milan, so how could I say no? Thinking about it, I can’t say I have any regrets; the choice was mine.”