Claudio Marchisio calls Federico Bernardeschi is “a pure talent” and talks about his preperations for the new season ahead.
The Carrara native joined up with the Bianconeri earlier this week and Marchisio was quick to praise his arrival at Juve.
“Bernardeschi? Welcome!” Marchisio told JTV.
“We Italians know him well, he’s a pure talent who increases the technical level of this team.
“He’s joining a group that wants to win again, and he’ll really help us in reaching new objectives together.
“The US tour? This is a classic pre-season in many ways, as it’s been a few years now that the players have returned from holidays at staggered dates.
“This summer tour gives us the chance to visit new cities and, more importantly, to get to know one another thanks to playing matches against big teams such as Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Roma.
“It’s crucial that this bonding process begins now because, in less than a month, we’ve the first trophy of the season to play for.
“Motivation is high and every day our determination is rubbing off on the new players. We’ve been winning titles for the last six years now, but each season people say it’s going to be more difficult to retain them.
“There’s some truth in that, but while it won’t be easy, we’re made of stern stuff and we’re highly motivated to improve on last year.
“I’m working hard to stay on this upward trajectory that I’m on.
“In the last two years I had to dedicate so much time to recovering from my knee injury that I wasn’t able to enjoy my holidays.
“This time however, I had a really great summer and when the holidays finished I said to myself: ‘now I’m ready for the new season.’
“During pre-season, the workload is high and it’s important to know one’s body well, to know how far to push oneself and especially when to take half a day off to rest.”