Claudio Marchisio explained why he could only wear the Juventus shirt in Italy while Andres Iniesta was the strongest midfielder he had played against.
I Principino retired from football last year, despite having offers from other clubs in Italy, an option that he couldn’t take up.
“I would not have been sincere and true to myself,” he explains to Sky Sport, “I have lived a beautiful dream that I had since i was a child, playing for the Juventus first team and winning a lot with the team of my heart.”
Despite remaining at Juventus for much of his career, Marchisio was not short of offers from other teams in Italy.
“I have always had great admiration for Milan,” he continued , “Together with Juventus, they are the team I respect so much. In Italy, however, I wanted to wear only one shirt, except for the experience in Empoli. I am proud to have given my whole black and white. ”
The Champions League continues to elude the Bianconeri at present, despite the club making two finals in as many years.
“In recent years Juventus have proven to be among the biggest in Europe, but this is not a certainty of victory.
“We will see how the team will do now that we have to catch up on the Lyon game after the break. We can only help the team a lot, it would be a shame if this cycle did not end with a Champions League title.”
Juve are looking to refit the midfield in the summer, an area that has been lacking under both Max Allegri and Maurizio Sarri.
“Until I stopped playing, the strongest midfielder remained Andreas Iniesta, but there is also Kevin De Bruyne.
“There are many great midfielders here at Juve too, like Miralem Pjanic. I’d like to see Paul Pogba at Juventus again.
“Sandro Tonali is a boy who is growing during an important season where Brescia are having difficulties, but in these circumstances you can see the great talent for the future.”
