An extraordinary person

I will never forget what an extraordinary person he was, somebody who always stood out for his humility and simplicity, the true qualities of a great man. Thinking about what an important businessman he was and yet the way he behaved, acted and related to other people really gives you an idea of what kind of person he was. One of his qualities I most admired was the way he made the person or people he was talking to feel so at ease. I had so much more than just a working relationship with him. I will never forget when I met him once on a flight to the United States. I was with my daughter Valentina and he was with his wife Adriana. We travelled together and then enjoyed a wonderful evening in New York. After that, whenever we met, they always asked me about my daughter, something I really appreciated and made me very fond of them both.

During the year I was at Sassuolo when we won the league championship and got promoted into the Italian Serie B, we did not see Mr Squinzi that often. It was his first few years at the club and he had so many business commitments, but you could always feel his presence and we managed to build a good relationship that was fantastic for me. We were never out of touch after that. We talked about football, sport and other matters; for me it was a privilege to have enjoyed this kind of relationship with such an exceptional person as him.