He sits down, says hello to the gathered media before saying he will attempt to speak in English, but he ‘isn’t the best’ with the language just yet. He needn’t have worried, his responses were more than adequate.

What follows is 10 minutes of the Italian explaining why he is happy to have joined Chelsea, and why he feels confident heading into the season following Xabi Alonso’s ideas. The press in attendance loved interacting with the summer addition.

The defender was previewing our latest pre-season clash, which sees us pit our wits against AC Milan, but first he explained why he chose to leave his homeland of Italy for Chelsea.

‘I’m very happy to be here and I chose Chelsea because, for me, it’s one of the best teams in club football,’ Marco
told the gathered media.

‘The first few days [on pre-season tour] have been very nice. I’m very happy to be here, I feel confident and happy with all the team. Also with the coach and with all the staff.

‘I’m happy and focused for this season ahead. I don’t worry about the past. My focus is on this season, because I’m very happy to be here and I want to give my all to Chelsea.’

Palestra hopes he can take his fine form from last season in Serie A into this upcoming Premier League campaign, working under the guidance of Alonso who the defender states has already made a big impression on the squad.

‘I think we can have a great season because Xabi gives us good ideas and we’ve followed him since the first day,’ added Marco.

‘It’s true that we don’t have Champions League football this year, but there are a lot of big teams in the Premier League and I’m sure if we follow the ideas of Xabi, and improve every day, we can have a big season.

‘I’m really confident that this can be a big season for us, we are training very well and we are focused to do better. We are happy to have Xabi here with us and we are really confident as a team.

‘I think he has good ideas and not only me, but all my team-mates are happy to be managed by someone like Xabi Alonso.

‘We are all happy and we are thinking about improving day by day. The system he has is very good but he knows better than me at what works well, and we will just follow him!’

‘Personally I’m really confident here. I played for Cagliari last season, I played every game in Serie A. Of course the Premier League is a difficult league to play in but I’m really confident.

‘I’m really happy [to be here] and confident for the season ahead.’