Eniola Aluko says she has “grown tired” of Turin after leaving Juventus, claiming the city is “decades behind” and that she was made to feel like Pablo Escobar.
Aluko joined Juve in the summer of 2018 from Chelsea and helped the Bianconeri win the Scudetto last season.
However, she has opted to cut her two-year contract early, citing problems with the lifestyle in Turin and the club’s approach to foreign players.
Eniola Aluko says she has “grown tired” of Turin after leaving Juventus, claiming the city is “decades behind” and that she was made to feel like Pablo Escobar.
Aluko joined Juve in the summer of 2018 from Chelsea and helped the Bianconeri win the Scudetto last season.
However, she has opted to cut her two-year contract early, citing problems with the lifestyle in Turin and the club’s approach to foreign players.
“I’ve had many ups and downs in Italy and learned a huge amount about myself,” wrote the former England striker in The Guardian.
“When you play abroad it is often the bad days that really shape and strengthen you.
“Sometimes Turin feels a couple of decades behind in terms of its general openness to different kind of people.
“I have grown tired of walking into stores and feeling as if the owner expects me to rob the place.
“There is only so many times you can arrive at Turin airport and have the sniffer dogs treat you like you are Pablo Escobar.
“I have not experienced any racism from Juventus fans or within the women’s League, but there is an issue in Italy and in Italian football and it is the response to it that really worries me.
“From owners and fans in the men’s game, who seem to see it as a part of fan culture.
“If the club want to continue attracting Europe’s talent to Italy, there needs to be some focus on making internationals feel at home and an important part of the long-term project.
“Even if the team are playing well, if things are not going right off the pitch it will only be a matter of time before a player thinks, sod this, I’m going home.
“I think you can definitely tell the clubs with the best cultures, the ones that are genuinely open to what everybody brings to the table, by how long they keep hold of their international players.”