Between 2013 and 2015, Fernando Llorente formed a solid striking partnership alongside Carlos Tevez at Juventus.
The Spaniard arrived to Turin on a free transfer after leaving Athletic Bilbao, but eventually returned to his home country after just two years, where he joined Sevilla.
The Pamplona-native then went on to embark on an adventure in the English Premier League with Swansea and Tottenham Hotspur.
Llorente eventually returned to Italy with Napoli in the summer of 2019, but he barely featured with the southerners throughout his year and a half at the club.
The big striker was linked with a return to the Old Lady in January, but ended up joining Udinese instead.
“That felt like a weight off my shoulders, but I don’t want to stop now and hope to help Udinese score against Genoa too,” the Spaniard told Tuttosport as translated by Football Italia.
“I am here to bring my experience. Before signing, I talked to Francesco Guidolin, who was my coach at Swansea, and he assured me I would be very happy in Udine. He was right. Although it’s a smaller city, it does remind me of Turin, where I was very happy indeed.”
“In Napoli, I felt like a caged lion over the last year. It’s tough to keep your mentality in the right place when you train for months and never step on the pitch. Sensing there’s no faith in you does hurt.”
Despite doing well in Udine, it seems that the Spanish striker had his heart set on rejoining Juventus who were hunting for a 4th striker that never came.
“There was a lot of talk, perhaps the Bianconeri directors thought differently, but in the end it didn’t go through.
“I would’ve liked a return to Juventus. Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the best players in history and I have fond memories of Andrea Pirlo. Above all, Juventus remains in my heart and I had the two of the best years of my career in Turin,” added Llorente.
“I often hear from ex-teammates and directors, they all speak highly of Pirlo, even though the results aren’t quite what they wanted.
“I can understand criticism over the Champions League exit, but it would be crazy to doubt Cristiano Ronaldo’s influence. With him on the pitch, you basically start from 1-0,” Concluded the 36-year-old.
