Merih Demiral highlighted the difficulty of adapting to Gian Piero Gasperini’s system at Atalanta following his arrival from Juventus.
The 24-year-old Turkish centre back joined the Bergamo club on a loan deal with a buy option attached from the Bianconeri last summer, failing to make the cut in Massimiliano Allegri’s squad. He has been a regular feature under Gasperini this season, starting 19 Serie A matches.
Speaking to Tuttosport, Demiral looked back at his first season with Atalanta and the difficulties of adapting to Gasperini’s system.
“I thought Atalanta was a great opportunity and now that a few months have passed I can say I am really satisfied.
“In Bergamo there is a lot of work and in the first two months it was not easy to adapt to new methods, from the coach to his teammates. Then things improved and continue to improve, you live well and eat well. I get on well with everyone at Zingonia.”
He then touched on Atalanta’s goals for this season in both Serie A and the Europa League.
“In the Europa League we want to go all the way. In the league, the Champions League race is still open and we will try to win all the league games from now until the end.”
The 24-year-old Demiral, who is technically contracted to Juventus until 2024, has made 32 appearances across all competitions so far this season, for a total of 2521 minutes. In that time, he’s scored two goals, provided two assists and helped the side keep 11 clean sheets.
Demiral e l'Atalanta: "I primi due mesi non sono stati facili. Oggi sono davvero soddisfatto" https://t.co/2aCYjDgJj9
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