Former Juventus defender Giorgio Chiellini confirmed he will be returning to Turin later this year, but insists it’s too early to talk about his future. The veteran centre-back was speaking with Spanish newspaper AS, where he discussed his retirement and future plans.
“In my last year at Juventus, I could still play, but I noticed how difficult it was for me to recover. I didn’t want to be useless. The same thing happened to me in Los Angeles. I lived through two beautiful seasons, we reached two MLS finals, one won and one lost, and a Champions League final. With my family, the idea was to return to Italy after the summer, and I wanted to start having fun and studying.”
“Future as a coach? I’m doing an internship here, working closely with the sporting side, but also the working side. It’s interesting, and I’m learning a lot.”
“In September, I’ll return to Turin, which is my home, but it was a family decision. I have an ambassador contract with Juventus, it was the team of my career, even though it’s too early to talk about my future. I need to continue learning and accumulating energy to start over.”
“Italian defenders? The best at the moment is Bastoni. At a technical level, there are few in the world at his level. He’s growing and interpreting the new evolution of football well, less positional and increasingly technical and offensive. He plays in a back three, but he changes position, positions himself high up, and has enormous calm when touching the ball. He could be a great Spanish central defender.”
“Bonucci’s retirement? An era has ended. Soon it will be the turn of the other BBC… The first was Gareth (Bale, by the way), with whom I had the fortune to play here, he’s a splendid person. Time passes, it’s part of life. It’s essential to prepare for what comes after, even if I had played until I was 60 years old.”
