Cancelo: 'Thanks Inter for path to Juventus'

By Football Italia staff

Joao Cancelo has thanked Inter – for allowing him the chance to join “Juventus, the best club in Italy, with Max Allegri one of the best Coaches in the world.”

The two sides meet on Saturday evening in the Derby d’Italia and Cancelo isn’t holding back against the side he joined on loan from Valencia last season.

“When I arrived in Italy, it was a radical change for me, as I came from the Spanish League where technique is the most important thing, while here tactics are a fundamental aspect,” Cancelo told DAZN.

“Luciano Spalletti helped me a great deal, especially to understand certain defensive concepts, and I am grateful to him for that. The six months on loan at Inter were important.

“That experience allowed me to join Juventus, the best club in Italy, with Allegri one of the best Coaches in the world. He’s a great person and I still have much to learn from him.”

There were reports that Cancelo had ‘liked’ a post on social media containing the #AllegriOut hashtag, but the Portugal international denied this.

“I heard about it, but this has nothing to do with me. It’d be crazy for me to do something like that. Allegri is one of the best Coaches in the world, he won so much at Juventus and also at Milan. It’s fake news from people trying to cause problems between me and the Coach.

“I really appreciate Allegri, as he is a great person and I owe a lot of my current form to him. I want to continue at Juventus and keep writing my story here. I’ve improved so much in a year, as you inevitably do when training with the best.

“If you work with players like Douglas Costa, Cristiano Ronaldo, Paulo Dybala, Alex Sandro, Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini, you also improve in the aspects where you are most lacking.

“The teammate who impressed me the most in my first days at Juve was Miralem Pjanic, as even before the ball has reached him, he already knows what to do.”

Naturally, Cancelo already knew Cristiano Ronaldo very well even before the switch to Juventus.

“Cristiano is hard work, talent and dedication, all of which makes him one of the greatest players of all time. It’s no coincidence that he won five editions of the Ballon d’Or. He is a great athlete and professional, so we younger players should all learn from him.”

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