Collecchio, 18 September 2025, The midfielder, Benjamin Cremaschi’s comments during his presentation press conference at the Collechio Centre in the presence of CEO Federico Cherubini.

MY GOAL IS TO LEARN AND TO HELP THE TEAM

“Hello everyone, and thank you for being here. I'm sorry for my Italian. I'm trying to learn quickly; I'm already taking Italian lessons. I think it's important to speak the language of the country I live in. So hopefully, I will be able to understand and speak in Italian very soon. I usually like to play the traditional box-to-box role; I am an aggressive player who likes to attack but also defend with intensity. This is what I want to bring to the team. That is the role I feel most at ease in, but I could also cover other positions, which is very helpful for teams, for coaches, and also for me. It was a very good experience to see the level of the game up close against Cagliari, which I had also seen in training. It really enjoyed seeing how football is played in a prestigious league like Serie A. In terms of my ambitions, for this season, I just hope to adapt quickly to this relatively new and intense style of play. I would like to get some minutes of play, get experience, learn, and grow as a player, learn from the players, both the younger ones and the more experienced, as well as the coach. I think Parma is a great place to grow as a player because it’s a young club, a very young club with a lot of ambition, and I think that kind of represents me as well. I’m a young player with a lot of ambition. And so my ambition for this season is to learn and grow as quickly as possible.”

THANK YOU TO PRESIDENT KRAUSE, AN HONOUR TO BE HERE

“I want to thank President Kyle J. Krause and the Club for having me here, for being the first American player to represent this team, and also congratulate the President on his five-year anniversary at Parma. It’s very motivating to have an American owner. I relate a lot to Americans. I feel very American with a lot of Argentinian culture because my family is Argentinian, and I have a lot of friends who are Argentinian, and in my house, we speak Spanish. I have a very strong bond with Italy because my great-grandpa was from here, from a small town near Bologna, which I don’t know the name of yet, but I think my parents know, so I will have to ask them. So I hope to strengthen my Italian identity playing here in a prestigious league. Fundamentally, there’s a relationship to every single nationality that I belong to, and I think they all play a huge part in who I am today.”

I ENJOY PLAYING AS AN ATTACKING MIDFIELDER OR A MORE DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDER

“There are two Argentinians here, so it’s still nice to have people who speak in the same language and in English. A lot of people speak English at Parma, but I want to learn Italian so I can speak to everyone. At Miami, playing with Messi meant that I also had to play in a lot of positions and cover a lot of positions. There are two positions I prefer, attacking midfielder or a more defensive midfielder, aggressively attacking the back of their lines. Playing with Messi was a great experience, so hopefully I can bring that experience here to Parma and help as much as I can. The World Cup? I think Parma is the right place for me to have the opportunity to be called up. Parma is a very young club and is very ambitious, and they gave me the opportunity to play in one of the best leagues in the world, so I’m happy about this next step of being here and trying to prove myself in a league that is outside of the United States. I think it’s a great challenge for me. I think Parma could help me and give me the potential I need to reach next year’s World Cup.”

I can’t wait to experience the atmosphere of the Tardini soon and the passion of the Tifosi Gialloblù

“I can’t wait to experience the atmosphere of the Tardini soon and the passion of the Tifosi Gialloblù. It will be very different from the MLS. Here, I think the fans are probably a little louder or more intense and more focused on the game. That’s not always true in the States, it depends on who you play. I think maybe the passion is lived a little differently. As soon as I experience more stadiums here, I can talk a bit more and compare the two different types of atmospheres, but I’ve heard a lot of great things about Serie A and the fans here.”

DEFENSIVE SET UP

“Defend with three or four at the back? In Miami, we would play 4, and sometimes we would play with three in the back, so the coaches want different things (in terms of playing with three or four at the back). At Parma, I’ve understood that it’s mostly a line of three. I’m a little bit familiar with a line of three because in Miami, we played it last year and a little bit this year. So now I just need to adapt and learn as much as possible to get better.”

A DREAM TO PLAY IN EUROPE

“In the United States, we follow a lot of the European leagues because we believe that it’s the highest level possible. Hopefully, now Americans can follow Parma a little more now because I’m here. I’ve always watched Serie A, as well as other leagues from here in Europe, and my dream was always to play in one of the top leagues in Europe. As I got older, I always had Serie A as one of my top leagues, so I’m super happy to have this opportunity here, to be able to try and perform here at one of the highest levels in Europe. What is the difference between the MLS and Serie A? They are completely different. The MLS is still growing in that aspect because it’s young, but recently a lot of great players have signed in the MLS, and there’s a long way to go.”