Rodrigo Bentancur was amazed Cristiano Ronaldo knew his name | OneFootball

Rodrigo Bentancur arrived in Juventus in April 2017 with the greatest of expectations.

After graduating from the Boca Juniors academy in 2015, he was one of four players that Juve had options to purchase in 2017 as a part of the Carlos Tevez deal.

Bentancur was the only one of the four players that Juve took a chance on, signing him for €9.5m with 50 per cent of all future transfer fees heading back to Boca.

On Thursday, Bentancur admitted that the thought of joining one of the world’s most elite clubs terrified him.

“When they told me about the possibility of coming to Juventus I panicked,” Bentancur told DAZN.

“I was very happy, but also very scared. I thought: ‘now I have to go to Italy, with only my father, leave my family, learn Italian… how am I going to do it?’.

“In the end I was very happy, but also a bit scared.

“From the first time I entered the Juventus dressing room and saw the faces of my teammates I understood one thing: you win here, and that’s it.

“Everyone calls me Lolo, because when he was young my little brother couldn’t pronounce ‘Rodrigo’. He said ‘Loligo’, so it stayed ‘Lolo’.

“As a child I was much taller than the other children, at least an extra foot, so after every win the fathers of the opposing team would ask me for documents to prove my age.

“Why the number 30? It’s the number I had at Boca Juniors, and I asked for it when I arrived in Turin. It’s the day my mother was born. She watches me and brings me luck from up there.

“Before I came I talked with the Juventus staff, it was like I did an 18 month pre-season. I was very thin when I arrived, now I’ve gained 6kg of muscle mass.”

Bentancur actually got a chance to meet Cristiano Ronaldo in the most unusual of ways before his deal to Juventus was announced.

“I met him at the World Cup in Russia. We met in the anti-doping centre after Portugal-Uruguay.

“He recognised me – or so he said – and he called me by name. I couldn’t believe it.

“Then the first time I saw him train here in Turin I thought: ‘he’s an animal!’. The way he trains is exceptional, he always gives 100 per cent.”