PSV Eindhoven midfielder Jerdy Schouten still has fond memories of Juventus coach Thiago Motta dating back to their time together at Bologna.
The 27-year-old plied his trade at the Renato Dall’Ara Stadium between 2019 and 2023. In his final campaign at the club, he played under the guidance of the Italo-Brazilian tactician and managed to take his game to another level.
This earned the deep-lying playmaker a move to PSV for 15 million euros, with Bologna registering massive capital gains on a player they brought for just 2 million.
In his first season in Eindhoven, Schouten won the Eredivisie title and has been earning recurring call-ups for the Dutch national team.
Therefore, he remains grateful for Motta who taught him a lot during his final campaign in Italian football.
“Motta doesn’t play typical Italian football made up of catenaccio, but always wants to impose the game and be dominant,” noted Schouten in his interview with Sky Sport Italia via IlBianconero.
“And it’s been a long time since Juve played a Champions League match. Arriving here in Turin and seeing all the signs reading Juve-PSV makes us eager to play the match. We’re itching to get on the pitch.
“Motta and I worked together for a few months at Bologna but I learned a lot from him because he was a midfielder like me and I will always be grateful to him.
“When he signed for Juve I wrote him a message. But I hope that the Bianconeri have not yet reached the levels of his Bologna.”