Andrea Pirlo was a crystal-clear talent, and saw his class rewarded by two favourable transfers: the first was the move from Inter to Brescia, his hometown team in which he allegedly met Carlo Mazzone. The second concerned the transfer that the Nerazzurri made with Milan in the summer of 2001, selling the Brescia-based midfielder for Argentine forward Andrés Guglielminpietro.
From that moment, especially after his year at the Rondinelle, where he had been transformed into an excellent playmaker by the Roman coach, Pirlo saw his career take off. Another Carlo, Ancelotti, had given him the keys to the midfield at Milan. A midfield in which Clarence Seedorf, also sold by Cuper, landed at the same time. The Argentine, who preferred his countryman Guly to Pirlo, and chose to bet on left-back Francesco Coco as a bargaining chip for the Dutchman - someone he had never found a position on the field for, was the indirect architect of so much of Milan's success.
Pirlo and Seedorf immediately became two absolute pillars of Carlo Ancelotti's team, and with the two of them in the middle, they won a Scudetto and two Champions Leagues in the space of four years. Meanwhile, on the other side of Milan, Nerazzurri fans ate their hands and arms seeing how their former players triumphed wearing the jersey of their lifelong enemies.
A sliding door moment often remembered by Rossoneri fans, proud of having usurped their all-time rivals in an unforgettable way.
Basically, if Cuper had unintentionally lit the fuse, the one who put gasoline on the fire to create the great bonfire was Ancelotti, who arrived at Milanello at the same time. Aware that he had at his disposal a powerhouse like Gennaro Gattuso, the Emilian coach immediately understood that Pirlo also had the positional sense to place himself critically in front of the two defenders, thus becoming the architect of the Rossoneri's play. The transition from Rigamonti to the San Siro was painless for the Brescia man, who on his right side had the rocky Calabrese, and on the left he was accompanied by the eclectic Dutchman.
Never totally understood by Cuper, Seedorf was deployed as a midfielder alongside Pirlo, confirming that he was a perfect hybrid between creator and worker, especially when put in the conditions to express himself with freedom. Technical but also blessed with considerable strength, the Dutchman would achieve in the Rossoneri what had eluded him in the Nerazzurri.
Sold by the Argentine the two would go on to make beautiful and successful memories in Milan history. Inter's errors meant that they had become the victims of two disastrous exchanges, that led to Milan becoming the strongest team in the world.
