#TBT: JACK IN BERGAMO

"Your shirt may have changed colour, but Bergamo will always be in your heart": that was the message on a banner displayed by the Atalanta fans at the old Atleti Azzurri d’Italia (now known as the Gewiss Stadium) when Giacomo Bonaventura returned there to face his former team for the first time on the final matchday of the season, at the end of May 2015.

Bonaventura gave the following reply to those fans who had cheered him on in the past few years: "I’ve received so much affection from the people of Bergamo, there are few fans like you in all of Italy." The midfielder was among various possible midfield transfer targets for the Rossoneri, alongside van Ginkel and Baselli. But neither of those two were acquired on a permanent basis by AC Milan.

Atalanta v AC Milan has always been an intriguing match when it comes to past and future players; the match between the two sides in 1993 saw the Rossoneri taking a keen interest in Porrini, but they ended up buying Panucci. Meanwhile Pašalić started for the Rossoneri while Kessie played for Atalanta during the 1-1 draw in May 2017. Both players have subsequently swapped teams.

Looking back at that evening in May 2015, it was Baselli who opened the scoring for the home side. But Pazzini’s penalty brought the Rossoneri level and a brace from Bonaventura secured all three points for AC Milan with a 3-1 victory. Jack gave his thoughts at the end of the game: "It’s football, I put the ball into an empty net twice, I couldn’t even miss. I’m sad because I don’t want to hurt Atalanta, but I’m convinced that the fans are happy for me and what I’m doing with Milan."

The official PUMA match kits for the 2019/20 season are available in the AC Milan Online Store!