Nicklas Bendtner reveals his first day at Juventus provided an ‘amazing sight, 10 or 12 of them in the toilets having a coffee, talking and smoking.’
The fun-loving Dane is now retired and was speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live about his experience in Turin in 2012-13.
“It was in the bathroom, I couldn't find the guys and it was a little bit weird. You know, it was my first day. Obviously I got quite quickly onto the coffee wagon as well.
Nicklas Bendtner reveals his first day at Juventus provided an ‘amazing sight, 10 or 12 of them in the toilets having a coffee, talking and smoking.’
The fun-loving Dane is now retired and was speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live about his experience in Turin in 2012-13.
“It was in the bathroom, I couldn't find the guys and it was a little bit weird. You know, it was my first day. Obviously I got quite quickly onto the coffee wagon as well.
“Then I found ten or twelve of them in the toilets, just having a coffee, talking, enjoying each other's company – and having a cig.
It was an amazing sight and made me feel like this was something I will enjoy.”
Players such as Gigi Buffon, Andrea Pirlo never made a secret of their smoking, but it didn’t affect their performances.
“What can you say to these guys? If you look at their careers and how professional they are, it was a real eye opener to me actually regarding these two.
“Because the professionalism they showed on the pitch and the camaraderie was on a different level, so no one thought anything of it.”
When Mario Balotelli exported this approach to Manchester City and Liverpool, it scandalised the British press.
“It's funny because you remember when Mario Balotelli came to England and everyone said about him smoking in the toilets,” continued Bentdner.
“And it became this massive story in the paper – a player smoking. In every single club I've played in, players have been smoking.
“It was much more of a thing in Italy, much more of a normality than in England.”