Inter Milan midfielder Kristjan Asllani feels that teammate Hakan Calhanoglu has been a key part of his growth at the Nerazzurri.
The Albanian praised Calhanoglu while speaking to InterTV, via FCInterNews, after yesterday’s 4-0 Serie A win over Atalanta.
Asllani is now in his third season at Inter.
Throughout the 22-year-old’s time at the Nerazzurri, there have been occasional rumours that he could leave in search of more playing time.
But Asllani has always rebuffed these. It is clear that the former Empoli midfielder believes that he is in the right place.
Inter signed Asllani to be a backup option, at least initially.
And the Nerazzurri also brought the Albanian in believing that he has significant potential to grow.
Initially, Asllani had been the player Inter earmarked as the understudy for Marcelo Brozovic.
But then things took a bit of an unexpected turn. Injuries to Brozovic meant that it ended up being Calhanoglu who inherited the mantle of Inter’s first-choice holding midfielder.
So while Asllani has also had the chance to learn from Brozovic for a season, it has been Calhanoglu who has really been a role model for him.
Kristjan Asllani: “Hakan Calhanoglu Vital For My Growth”
Regarding his still relatively limited playing time, Asllani admitted that “We all want to play.”
“But when we’re given minutes, in my view we need to make the most of them. Whether it’s just three, or eight, or half an hour.”
“I have an absolutely top-class player ahead of me in Hakan,” Asllani noted.
“I always have to thank him because he’s been vital for my growth,” the Albanian added.
Asllani mused that “We have to be good at learning from these top players, raising the level in every training session.”
“The thing that will be hard will be to confirm our place from last season,” the 22-year-old said.
“We want to do it again this season.”
“We have big goals that we want to achieve,” said Asllani. “But we just think one match at a time.”
