Del Piero: Juve rapport ‘not personal’

By Football Italia staff

Alessandro Del Piero admits his relationship with Juventus was ‘not personal’ like those Ryan Giggs and Sir Alex Ferguson had with Manchester United.

Del Piero put pen to paper on a ‘blank’ contract with Juve in 2011, but it later emerged that Juve only offered him an extra year and the Bianconeri icon subsequently left the club at the end of the 2011-12 campaign.

“We had numerous experiences together,” the 43-year-old told Sky Sport Italia.

“The fans went through an era with me. There was everything in my story with Juventus.

“Signing a blank contract? It was a choice to stop what was being created. There were a series of pressures and statements, which suggested I was only interested in money.

“I’d never signed with Juve for money, especially in 2006. It was a gesture to say ‘enough’. We had to think of something else.

“We had to win and I wanted to stop all the talk and let the club decide how we’d stay together and for how much.

“There are relationships like those of Ferguson and Giggs, who renewed their contracts with United over a glass of wine.

“They had different relationships, which were even more personal and not like mine. I made a strong gesture, but I’d do it again.

“I owe a lot to Juventus who, in any case, took the pressure away from me and allowed me to experience my last season with less pressure.”

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