The former deputy sporting director (and former athletic trainer, previously) of Shakhtar Donetsk, Carlo Nicolinispoke to TuttoJuve.com of some issues related to Juventus and the Bianconeri market. From Sudakov, one of the most talked about names in the market (even for Juve itself) and who he knows well, to the internal choices that the Bianconeri are carrying out these days, here are his words.
After a lifetime spent at Shakhtar, what’s cooking now?
“I’m looking around, without any preclusions: Italy or abroad is indifferent to me, the important thing is that it is an intriguing and worthy project”.
What immediate changes do you expect compared to last year in the new Juve led by Thiago Motta?
“I think there will be immediate changes. The style of play will be different, some players will be different, which is why Motta will want to make an impact immediately in terms of personality and on the pitch.”
In your opinion, could Motta have problems managing the pressure of a top club?
“I believe that Juve has made a great acquisition with Motta, his CV – built on his experiences as a player and coach – guarantee that he is already capable of managing an important place like Turin. He seems to me to have personality, character, ideas to be followed in a context that is certainly different from that of Bologna”.
Douglas Luiz and Di Gregorio are just two of the first Juventus signings, reading the other names linked, what do you think? Can Juve be a Scudetto winner right away?
“For me, Juve were already worthy of the Scudetto last year, even more so this season both for the purchases made and for the coach who was hired. The management must understand how to set up the squad based on the demands of the squad, but I think that the Bianconeri will start as strong favourites together with Inter and the others are much, much further behind at the moment”.
A final curiosity about Sudakov, who has also been linked to Juventus in the recent past. Where do you think he will play?
“Maybe he didn’t have an impact in terms of scoring, but for me he played three important games and against Romania, in the first match we lost, he was the only one who never gave up. In the second against Slovakia he was important for the victory, with Belgium showed flashes of crystalline class because he created two or three sensational scoring opportunities for the attackers. And he himself, in the 91st minute, could have given a different twist to the European Championship. Ukraine as an opportunity like this is unlikely to happen again, with such a strong team and a fairly poor group. We will have to understand what didn’t work well, I think the boy can go to England given that the price is only accessible for the Premier League at the moment. “.
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