Santon hails the influence of Mourinhio

Newcastle United defender Davide Santon says he will always be thankful to Jose Mourinho for the influence he had on him as a youngster at Inter.


The Italian was given his professional debut by the Real Madrid coach in the 2008-09 season while at the Italian club.

Santon was pleased to have been given the chance to play regular first-team football after the Portuguese made him switch to an unfamiliar full-back position that he had never played in before.

The 21-year-old was quoted as saying by The Mirror: “Jose Mourinho had a big influence on my career at Inter Milan.

“It was Mourinho who switched me from being an attacker to a defender. I was only 18 and had never played in that position before.

“I am now OK playing either side of the back four. When Mourinho first switched me, I played at left-back but then when I went to play for the Italian national side I played at right-back. But I’m happy either side.

“Mourinho had faith in me to put me in that position and in the Inter first-team squad. I owe him a lot for pointing me in the right direction.

“It was a great experience working with Jose Mourinho and I will always thank him for what he did. I had some great times at Inter playing in the Champions League and winning the Milan derby against AC when David Beckham was my opponent as well as graduating to the full Italian national side.”

Santon added that it was a tough decision to leave Inter in the summer to join Newcastle but says he was keen on playing in the Premier League.

He said: “It was a big call to leave Inter – they had won the Champions League under Mourinho. But I had always followed the Premier League and wanted to test myself in England. English football is a lot more physical than the game in Italy.

“I didn’t come here to fill Jose Enrique’s boots – I aim to play my own game.”

Santon was the subject of praise from Alan Pardew ahead of the clash with QPR on Sunday, with the Newcastle manager exclusively telling Goal.com that the defender can develop into “something special”.