"How wonderful to see my Newcastle United win" – Davide Santon on retirement struggle and happy Magpies years
03/19/2025 10:01 AM
Davide Santon had a four-year-long stint at Newcastle United and it has always been a career highlight for the Italian.
He joined the Magpies from Inter Milan in the summer of 2011 and was sold back to the Nerazzurri in 2015, after a six-month loan at the Giuseppe Meazza.
The former full-back had played 94 times in all competitions for the Magpies and in an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport, he has spoken about his stint at Newcastle United and how injuries held him back at St James' Park.
He said, as relayed by Corriere della Sera: "In England, I had the three most continuous and happy years, apart from the last months in which I was out due to the third operation on the same knee.
"I would never have left, but how could I say no to Mancini’s call in 2015? It meant going home, not as a child, but as a man. I wanted the chance for revenge, but my body wouldn’t allow it."
He also had some warm words about Newcastle United winning the Carabao Cup and spoke about it when asked about how things are for him nowadays.
He said: "For the first few months after retiring I didn’t watch a single match: I hated it, but today I’m at peace with myself. I could have still been there, it’s true, but the matches are also beautiful on TV. For example, how wonderful to see my Newcastle win a title after 56 years."
Santon picked up a serious knee injury towards the end of his time at Tyneside and this was followed by a lack of game time, which led to his loan to Inter in January of 2015.
He played multiple times for the Nerazzurri and for Roma after his exit from Newcastle United but he never quite got back to his best, as fitness issues forced him into retiring in 2022.
Still just 34, it is easy to see why Santon looks back kindly on his spell in England as that is when he was at the peak of his powers.
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