Verona president Maurizio Setti reveals he bought the club because of Jorginho and warns his players that Juventus ‘will be angry’ when they meet Hellas tomorrow.
Setti bought a majority stake in the club from Giovanni Martinelli in June 2012.
Verona were playing in Serie B at that time and gained Serie A promotion on Setti’s first season as the club’s owner.
During an interview with Telearena (as quoted by Tuttomercatoweb), Setti revealed that he decided to buy the club after watching Jorginho play.
“I watched eight Verona games and I thought that Jorginho would help me make a step forward. I bought Verona for him,” Setti said, adding that the Italy international deserves to win the Ballon d’Or this year.
Jorginho joined Napoli from Verona in 2014, moving to Chelsea in 2018.
His agent Joa Santos recalled Jorginho’s journey in the world of football, starting from Brazil and Verona, in an exclusive interview with Football Italia in June.
Exclusive: Brazil snub and Chelsea move – agent explains Jorginho’s choices
Setti also spoke about the club’s plans for the future and the upcoming match against Juventus.
“It’s not possible to imitate Atalanta or Udinese,” said Setti.
“I want to give stability one step at a time. When I arrived, there was nothing. Now we own the headquarters, there are many employees and a high-level youth sector.
“Juventus are Juventus, but anything can happen. They will be angry and we’ll see how we deal with the third game in six days.
“The stadium will be sold out, but I am sorry it won’t be open to 100% capacity.”
Verona sit 10th in the Serie A table, just three points off the Old Lady in seventh.
They sacked their coach Eusebio Di Francesco after three defeats in three games with Igor Tudor collecting 12 points in the following seven matches.