Football Italia
·29 August 2024
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·29 August 2024
Federico Bernardeschi feels that Juventus‘ ‘most exciting signing’ this season is a player they already had in the team, Kenan Yildiz, and is happy to see his compatriot Federico Chiesa join Liverpool.
Former Juventus winger Bernardeschi, now at Toronto FC, discussed the brilliant Bianconeri transfer activity in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport.
Juventus signed eight players this summer, including Nico Gonzalez, Francisco Conceiçao, and Teun Koopmeiners, who joined over the last few days.
On the other hand, they had to sell Chiesa to Liverpool for just €13m plus add-ons as the Italian was not part of Motta’s project and was unwilling to extend his contract beyond June 2025.
“I’m happy for Fede, I am sure he can do well in the Premier League,” said Bernardeschi.
“I don’t know what happened between him and Juventus, but both must go beyond it now. Nico has excellent qualities and plays for Argentina, an important national team. He has everything to do well at Juventus.”
Chiesa has already travelled to Liverpool to complete a permanent transfer and the Reds are expected to confirm his signing today.
Both Bernardeschi and Chisa were part of the Italy squad that won EURO 2020.
When Gazzetta asked Berna to name the most exciting Juventus signing, his reply was quite surprising. “To me, the real coup will be Yildiz. He deserved the No. 10 because he has that extra bit that always makes a difference.
“I had the No. 10 at Fiorentina and it is not heavy if you have the right mentality. A player with this class must be given freedom. He must help defensively, but he needs freedom to move in attack.”
Yildiz, 19, signed a new Juventus contract only a few weeks ago and got the iconic No.10 for 2024-25.
“There’s a new coach and a new director, so they want to leave their mark. Giuntoli has done great work, and Thiago Motta is tough,” continued Bernardeschi, talking about the Juventus project.
“We played the 2016 Euros together. He was still young but one of the most experienced. You could already notice his predisposition towards young players. We were on good terms. He helped me with his advice.
“He has the sensibility of great champions and the experience to do well. He unites courage to his ideas. Strong footballers play regardless of their age. He has brought a new philosophy to Juventus. When you start from scratch, everyone wants to do more. It also happened with Allegri at the beginning of his first spell.”
Juventus won the opening two Serie A games of the season, beating Como and Hellas Verona 3-0. Next up for the Bianconeri is Daniele De Rossi’s Roma, who earned just one point in two matches.