Matteo Darmian’s former Parma manager is thrilled how the Italy defender has rebuilt his career since his Manchester United exit.
Manchester United signed Matteo Darmian from Torino for £12.7 million in 2015 under Louis van Gaal.
Despite a promising start, Darmian struggled to hold down a starting spot under Van Gaal or successor Jose Mourinho.
He was eventually sold by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for just £1.4 million to Parma in the summer of 2019.
Matteo Darmian has rebuilt career
Matteo Darmian signed with Parma, where he spent just one season before being snapped up by Antonio Conte’s Inter Milan on loan, before the move was made permanent.
Darmian went on to win the Serie A title with Inter, in a side also boasting fellow ex-United teammates Ashley Young, Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez, and current star Christian Eriksen.
The defender is still starring for Inter, recently helping them into the Champions League quarter-finals.
The 33-year-old has also reclaimed his spot in the Italy squad, starting in the Azzurri’s Euro qualifying win over Malta.
His former Parma manager Roberto D’Aversa has told Tuttomercatoweb he is thrilled to see him doing so well, and explains that when he signed him from Manchester United, he received a player who was a shadow of the star he is now.
D’Aversa said: “I worked more on that continuity that he no longer had in the Premier League with Manchester United. I found a great guy, who I’m still in touch with today.
“And the fact that against Porto in the Champions League he was Inter’s man of the match made me very happy because he’s a very good, humble boy that every father would want for his daughter.
“As a player he can fill different roles, either as a full-back or as an arm-in-arm. I’ve always appreciated his ductility and his humility, I remember that when he came to Parma he looked like everything except a footballer who had played for Italy and in the Premier League.
“He immediately made himself available, we knew Parma would be an intermediate step before going to Inter. And he is proving to be an Inter player.”
They used to say that after leaving Manchester United, the only way was down. Darmian is disproving this claim.
He has found a way to add goals to his game too, he scored just once in 92 appearances for Manchester United. At Inter, he has netted eight times in 100 appearances, recently celebrating his centenary.
It may simply be that Darmian is better suited to Italian football than the English game. He probably wouldn’t argue with that himself. And if that is the case, it is great he has found his place.
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