Andrea Pirlo is widely regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time. The classy playmaker has won every major team honour there is to win which includes 6 Serie A titles, 2 UEFA Champions League, 1 Club World Cup and 2 Coppa Italia trophies over a career that has spanned for more than 20 years.
Supreme technique combined with magnificent passing abilities and a vision that is second to none is what made him a hit when he was deployed as a deep-lying playmaker for the first time by Carlo Mazzone when Pirlo was on loan at Brescia from Inter. And from then he made that position his very own.
Of all the clubs Pirlo has played for, Inter was probably the only club where he failed to impress and hence was subsequently sold to Inter's biggest rivals AC Milan. Pirlo joined Inter as a 19-year-old in 1998 from Brescia and was signed by then Inter coach Marcello Lippi.
In his autobiography, I think therefore I play, Pirlo cites the lack of opportunities as his main reason to leave Inter. He also feels that had manager, Marcello Lippi, not been sacked he probably would've become an Inter legend.
"When I see him, I am instantly reminded that, if he stayed on as Inter coach, I'd probably have become a legend there," Pirlo said in his autobiography.
He also remembers how not being selected enough was frustrating for him. Lippi was replaced by Marco Tardelli who deemed Pirlo surplus to requirements and subsequently loaned him to Brescia after Pirlo failed to impress.
He continues by saying," I won the European U21 Championship [with Tardelli as coach]. Maybe he did not recognise me at Inter, the fact is that I never played. I suffered and wanted to scream so many times. But being a civilised person, I always stopped myself at the right time.”
“Together with him (Tardelli) and the team's decline, I did not want to stay any longer and they prevented an Unconditional love affair [between me and the club]. I wanted to run and I did, thanks to a phone call with my agent Tinti."
The move from Inter to AC Milan paid off for Pirlo who became a regular for the Rossoneri and went on to make 284 appearances for the club, scoring 32 goals and winning 9 trophies. He was rightfully inducted into AC Milan's Hall of Fame.
He also represented Juventus where he spent 4 years and appeared 119 times for the club winning 4 consecutive Serie A titles with him appearing in the Serie A team of the year in all 4 seasons and the domestic treble in the 2014-2015 season.
Pirlo is currently playing in the MLS for New York City FC and there are rumours that Inter want him on loan when the current MLS season ends. Even though Roberto Mancini has clearly denied the rumours of Inter wanting Andrea Pirlo on loan, the fans would definitely love to see the 3 time Serie A player of the year one last time before he hangs up his boots.
