Conte defends Borriello move

By Football Italia staff

Antonio Conte has defended Juventus’ decision to sign Marco Borriello and hit back at Massimiliano Allegri’s suggestion that Milan are not scared of Juve.

This week has seen striker Borriello all but complete a six-month loan switch to the Bianconeri. With the squad already thought to have an abundance of attacking options, the question has been raised as to whether his arrival is necessary.

However, in speaking as Juve’s mid-season winter trip to Dubai drew to a close, Conte believes Borriello has the potential to offer the Bianconeri something different and compared his arrival to that of Andrea Pirlo in the summer.

“What do we see in Borriello that Milan have not?” commented Conte. “Maybe the same things we have seen in Pirlo.

“Behind every choice there is always a lot of reasoning and evaluation. The choice of Borriello is shared between the club and me and I do not understand those who emphasise the problems of an overabundance.

“Juve are a great team and must reason as much - no one should be afraid of competition.”

The Coach expanded further on the point to suggest that Borriello may not be the only addition to the squad this January.

“We will evaluate whether or not to make other moves and we want to end the season with a positive opinion of business carried out.

“I remember that Juve’s summer transfer campaign was criticised, but for the moment the team is first. There is always a lot of work, but so far we have been really good.”

Conte also took time to respond to Massimiliano Allegri’s claim that Milan are not scared of Juventus’ Scudetto threat.

“It is just Allegri that thinks this and it is not just Juve trying to subvert the prediction that Milan are encouraging.

They do have something more, a squad more accustomed to fighting for the Scudetto. But there is also Inter, Napoli, Udinese and Lazio.

“There is always work to do, do not forget that seven months ago we started from scratch and now we find ourselves top of the League unbeaten and it fills us with pride. But we know there is much still to do.”

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