Thiago Motta urges Juventus midfielder not to give up: “He must keep working hard” | OneFootball

Juventus manager Thiago Motta offers a few words of encouragement for Nicolo Fagioli who now finds himself in an undesirable situation.

The 23-year-old started the campaign on a positive note, producing decent displays, but has been recently dropped to the bench. Despite the major injury crisis, the Piacenza native is starving for playing time, with Motta preferring to field Manuel Locatelli and Khephren Thuram in the double pivot behind Teun Koopmeiners.

In recent weeks, the Italy international has been linked with a move away in January, with the likes of Paris Saint-Germain and Bologna emerging as rumored suitors.

Nevertheless, Motta insists Fagioli should grit his teeth and continue to fight for his spot at the Allianz Stadium.

“Like everyone else, Fagioli has to keep working hard to make a difference, even as a substitute,” said the 42-year-old in his pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday’s Serie A contest against Lecce (via the official Juventus website). “We’ll see if he’ll start tomorrow to help the team.”

Motta also refuses to undermine his opponents, insisting that the Giallorossi won’t be easy prey for his team.

“We want to put in a good performance in every sense of the word, as well as getting the result we need. Lecce arrive to the match on the back of a victory, their new coach brings enthusiasm and has created a positive environment.

“They put in a good performance against Venezia, they have interesting players, with a coach who has a strong focus on organization.

“They are playing at home, and they will want to cause us problems by pressing us. We’ll have to be good at beating the press, we’ll face a tricky opponent, so we have to focus on ourselves and give our best, knowing what we need to do to secure the three points.”

The encounter kicks off this evening at 20:45 CET at the Stadio Via del Mare.