The Portuguese star released an interview with Sky Sport Italia ahead of Milan‘s first game of the year against Cagliari 2️⃣ in Coppa Italia.

Leao, 24, started by explaining how his career as a professional footballer began and how he faced the 2️⃣ first few problems as a player.

“Both things happened at Sporting. I was doing well. I was training with the first 2️⃣ team, but the coach, Jorge Jesus, didn’t like to work with young players, so I thought it would have been 2️⃣ difficult to have a breakthrough,” he said.

“I was training well and I was called up for a game against Porto. 2️⃣ I went on the bench and it was thrilling just to sit there with the senior players. A striker got 2️⃣ injured at some point, so the coach told me to get in. I was not ready, but at the same 2️⃣ time, I was not nervous. I thought ‘now or never’. We lost but I scored a goal, and that’s when 2️⃣ I thought I could do something important.”

Leao then joined Lille in France. He had a tough time initially, spending five 2️⃣ months on the bench and living alone abroad for the first time ever. However, despite a tricky start, he slowly 2️⃣ emerged.