'Juve brought me close to tears!'

By Football Italia staff

Genoa defender Cristian Romero admits he ‘almost cried’ when he heard Giorgio Chiellini say that he was ‘waiting’ for him at Juventus.

The 21-year-old is on the verge of joining the Bianconeri in this window, for a fee reported to be in the region of €20m, although he could be loaned back to the Grifone for another season.

“Chiellini said he was waiting for me at Juventus. I almost cried tears of joy when I heard that,” he told Canal Show Sport in his native Argentina.

“I rushed to tell my whole family; I couldn’t believe it.”

Romero only moved in Italy last summer and naturally needed a few months to establish himself in Genoa’s first team.

“I thought I would only get a few games last season,” he explained.

“There was 30 of us on the first day of preseason training and for my Coach Davide Ballardini, I wasn’t a first-team player.

“He already had some great players to pick from and had also decided on who would be his four defenders.”

The centre-back has been called up by Argentina for the Pan-American Games, which will be held in Peru between July 26 and August 6.

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