He is one of the few footballers who can be labeled as a one-club, one-woman man. Paolo Maldini has been playing professional football with AC Milan since 1985 (two years before this writer was born!) and, as Goal.com quotes him, he never had the desire to leave his native Italy or beloved Milan.
Paolo, son of the legendary Cesare Maldini, says:
I never felt the need because I’ve always had the good fortune to play in my home town where my father was crowned Champion of Europe. If I really had to change, then I would’ve gone to Spain. In the moments of difficulty I had my family and friends around me in Milan to lean on. For a foreign player who is overseas it must be more complicated to get through the tough times. My advice is not to read the newspapers.
Maldini has remained a model both on the pitch and off it. He has always been in the headlines for his footballing reasons and no one doubts his character and influence in the dressing room. In his over 20 years of top flight Italian and international football, the 39-year old defender has won an incredible 25 major trophies, including 7 scudetti and 5 UEFA Champions League titles although the regret that he couldn’t lift the World Cup with Italy lingers on in his heart. Maldini is supposedly to retire from football altogether at the end of the season and the world will forever remember him as one of the truly greatest defender of all time and easily the best of his generation.