Federico Chiesa provided an update on his recovery, talked of his excitement at being reunited with Dusan Vlahovic and the idea of wearing the number 10 shirt.
The 24-year-old Italian winger was an important part of Massimiliano Allegri’s Juventus squad this season until he suffered a cruciate ligament rupture in a 4-3 win over Roma back in January. The injury ended his season and he was forced to watch the Azzurri lose 1-0 to North Macedonia on the sidelines.
Speaking at a Save The Children event in Turin, Chiesa first provided an update on his recovery.
“My dream is to return as soon as possible, but there are schedules to be respected and I think we are doing a great job. At the camp I’m surrounded by great professionals, the Juventus medical staff are fantastic and have helped me in every way, we’ve come together.
“Now we’re in a phase where I’ve started to run, I’ve also started to make the first changes of direction and we’ll see.
“I think I’ll be ready at the beginning of September, let’s see if we can do something sooner, but to be sure and not have relapses in the future, which nobody hopes for, it will be September.”
He gave his thoughts on January marquee signing Vlahovic, who had a mixed start to life in Turin.
“We’ve already paired up and I get on very well with him on the pitch, then he’s a friend off it and that only makes things better on the pitch. I can’t wait to play with him and give him some balls to score a few more goals.”
The former Fiorentina man touched on the idea of wearing the number 10 shirt, freed following Paulo Dybala’s departure.
“Of course, the number 10 jersey appeals to anyone and above all to Juve it’s something incredible, players of absolute level have worn it, champions. In July you’ll know the number!”
Chiesa reflected on this season before looking ahead to the upcoming campaign.
“This year has been an exciting season, we were penalised for our start at the beginning, otherwise we would have been there to fight. And then we saw that the match with Inter was a watershed.
“Next season will be even more difficult, Milan won the title, Inter won the Coppa Italia and winning helps to win, so it will be more difficult. We must return to the Juventus mentality, but have a lot more nastiness.”
He commented on the state of the Azzurri following their World Cup play-off disaster and what lies ahead.
“Mancini and those who work with him know this better than me. We need change, new and fresh players. We also need to change the Italian system, the truth is that we are behind the other nations. The coach is right, the players in Italy don’t play.
“But is the problem that there is no talent or training? We have to start asking ourselves these questions and change our mentality a bit. I think Mancini is the best person for the job.
“He did it after the first collapse, he took us to the top of Europe after missing the World Cup. So Mancini is the most suitable person. In my opinion training is fundamental. When I grew up in Fiorentina’s youth sector they taught the basics, now they think about the result.”
Finally, Chiesa commented on the heavy amount of pressure placed on young talents. The recent furor surrounding Wilfried Gnonto is an example of this.
“That too. Players who arrive and for half an hour on the pitch are labelled as the new Messi and Ronaldo. The luck is to have the right people beside them and to meet the right coaches who know how to wait, give the right timing and make the most of their potential.”
#Juve, #Chiesa: “Pronto per inizio settembre. La 10? A chi non fa piacere…” 🎯 https://t.co/mDYldsBbJF
— Tuttosport (@tuttosport) June 10, 2022
Come back stronger. All the best…
This will.be like a new signing. Now pull the finger out Juve and bring in additional quality esp GK and defence!