Sarri expecting more Juve business

By Football Italia staff

Maurizio Sarri has praised Gonzalo Higuain’s attitude and revealed that he is expecting Juventus to do more business in the transfer market.

Sarri’s first game as Juve boss ended in a 3-2 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, but Cristiano Ronaldo and the returning Higuain each helped themselves to a goal.

“Cristiano’s the best player in this team,” Sarri said after the match.

“Therefore, we must set up the other 10 well defensively. He can play anywhere on the field.

“He’s the best and it’s important for him to be free on the pitch. The positive thing about Higuain is his attitude. He’s looking good in training.

“He did well tonight. It’s also true that he’s been more active than his teammates because last season he played important games until the last day of May, while the Juventus players got to the end of the season with absolutely nothing left to play for.

“He’s probably benefitting from that but, beyond his goal and performance tonight, his attitude in training has been very positive.”

The Bianconeri spent €85.5m on Matthijs de Ligt and shelled out significant signing-on fees for Adrien Rabiot and Aaron Ramsey, so will there be any more arrivals?

“I don’t want to occupy myself too much on the market because I think that’s the right thing to do and because I keep much less of an eye on it than those who are in charge.

“Maybe there are Leagues and players I don’t know about. Therefore, it’s better to leave it to those who are in charge.

“We have lots of players in certain positions and less in others, but we’re talking about a situation where I have seven players in Turin carrying injuries and five who have yet to return from international commitments.

“I think the club, between now and the end of the transfer window, will do something in terms of incomings, but we’ll also have to do something in terms of outgoings.

“We have so many players right now that we’ll have to keep two or three out of our Champions League squad. We certainly have to do something.”

The former Napoli boss then explained how a young fan at Singapore’s National Stadium ended up sitting next to Ronaldo on the Old Lady’s bench.

“I saw this kid in the middle of the field and I knew he wanted to take a picture with Cristiano Ronaldo.

“I was afraid the stewards would quickly take him away, so I called for him to come over and have his picture taken with Cristiano.

“When I see a boy so young on the field... it’s not an invasion. For me, it’s a source of joy.”

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