Ashari: Joining Milan is my childhood dream. I chose No. 30 because Messi has worn it in his youth.

AC Milan officially announced the signing of 23-year-old Bruges midfielder Ashari. After joining Milan, Ashari was interviewed by AC Milan's official website.

■About choosing Milan

Asari said: "When AC Milan expressed interest in me, I felt very proud first. This is exactly what my family and I want to pursue. When I decided to join Milan, I made a promise."

"This is also a childhood dream. Milan has always been a topic between my friends and family, and this club has never been forgotten in our family. Now, this dream has finally come true."

■About my own characteristics

"I can bring strong physical confrontation skills. I will help the team on the offensive end, and also do a good job of defense, and strive to send the last pass to create more goals. I think these are the key points that I can help the team."

■As a Milan fan since I was a child, who do you appreciate the most?

"I really like Roberto Baggio and Pirlo. Their skills are excellent, especially their last pass and creativity, which is also the style I try to imitate on the court."

■Becoming teammates with legendary star Modric

"It feels great to be teammates with him. Being able to start my Milan era here, and there is such a player who has achieved extraordinary achievements in football history, which will only help me. I want to hear what he said and learn all his experiences on and off the court."

■About the feeling after joining Milan

"To be honest, this feeling is really hard to describe in words. It's incredible that I actually became a member of this great club. I hope I can contribute to this club and bring it back to the position I have. I will do my best to get Milan back to the top."

■About choosing the No. 30 jersey

"I have been wearing No. 30 jersey since my youth training. The reason I chose this number is because I like to watch Messi and other players. He started wearing No. 30. This jersey has brought me good luck in Switzerland and Belgium, and I hope it's the same here."