Italy legend Nesta ‘grounded’ his son for supporting Chelsea, Mount ‘his absolute idol’ | OneFootball

Italy legend Alessandro Nesta jokes that he punished his son for supporting Chelsea: ‘Mason Mount is his absolute idol.’

Italy legend Nesta, a 2006 World Cup winner and a two-time Champions League winner with Milan, spoke about his son supporting Chelsea in an interview with Cronache di Spogliatoio.

One of the best defenders of his generation, Nesta also won the Scudetto three times during his playing career and retired in 2014 after three years abroad: two years with Montreal Impact and one year with Chennaiyin in the Indian Super League.

His kids were raised in the USA, where one of them has become a Chelsea fan.

“I even grounded him! My kids grew up in the USA, and over there they watch the Premier League,” Nesta said.

“In his class, there were Arsenal fans, Manchester United fans…and he’s a huge Chelsea supporter, to the point it actually gets to me.

“When I was not coaching three or four years ago, I worked for Prime, covering Milan in the Champions League. My son called me and said, ‘If Chelsea-Milan comes up, I’ll come with you.’ Of course, that’s exactly the matchup that happened,” continued the ex-defender.

“The day before the game, I interviewed Thiago Silva, and my son wanted to come with me. On his phone screen, he has Mason Mount, his absolute idol. I told Thiago, so he went inside, called Mount, and he came out to hug my son, who was about to cry.

Monza coach Alessandro Nesta (Photo by Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images)

“I was like: Mason Mount? I mean, with all due respect, your father played….But I got emotional too, because I saw how emotional my son was, and I thought: ‘Yeah, he’s never changing his team.’

“Now that he’s turned 18, as a gift, he’s going from Miami to London with a friend for three days to watch a Chelsea game.”

epa00998510 Defender Alessandro Nesta of AC Milan celebrate the victory at the end of the Champions League second leg semifinal match against Manchester United in Milan’s San Siro-Giuseppe Meazza stadium late 02 May 2007. AC Milan won 3-0 and acceeds to the final match against Liverpool which will be played in Athens on 23 May. EPA/ETTORE FERRARI

A former Chelsea midfielder, Mount joined Manchester United in 2023.

Nesta and Thiago Silva spent three seasons together at Milan, from 2009 to 2012. Nesta played 417 Serie A matches with Milan and Lazio, scoring eight goals.

The 50-year-old also won a Club World Cup, three UEFA Super Cups, one Club Winners’ Cup, and a UEFA U21 European Championship.

After hanging up his boots, he coached Miami FC, Perugia, Frosinone, Reggiana and Monza.