AC Milan legend Rino Gattuso has sung praises of Morocco World Cup star Sofyan Amrabat.
The Valencia coach admits he was left excited by the Fiorentina midfielder’s impact in Qatar.
Gattuso told AS: “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a player like me, but I saw him at the World Cup: Amrabat. He moved me a lot, he looked like me when I was playing at 27. Life was so much better when I was playing, as a manager you just don’t have that.
“I have to thank my wife, I don’t know how she is still with me, but somehow I have to change, because you can’t spend 18 or 19 hours thinking about football.”
Of his playing days, Gattuso said: “I ran a lot and tactically I was very strong but surely in modern football I would be missing something. I had character, but the way I like to play, having character is not enough. Now I see football in a totally different way compared to when I was playing.
“If you look at the Milan or Napoli games when I was there, we didn’t press in attack. It’s the first year I’ve done that in Valencia.”