Juventus boss Max Allegri insists no-one will be signed to cover Claudio Marchisio but believes Rodrigo Bentancur can be a “surprise package”.
Juve will be without Marchisio for around a month after the midfielder encountered problems in his left knee, but Allegri made it clear he was happy with his squad ahead of Saturday’s trip to Genoa and backed Bentancur to shine.
Juventus boss Max Allegri insists no-one will be signed to cover Claudio Marchisio but believes Rodrigo Bentancur can be a “surprise package”.
Juve will be without Marchisio for around a month after the midfielder encountered problems in his left knee, but Allegri made it clear he was happy with his squad ahead of Saturday’s trip to Genoa and backed Bentancur to shine.
“I’m not thinking about the Champions League because the draw is just that and we must only think about playing against the teams we’re coming up against. We just have to pick up points and go on to the next one,” began the Coach at a Press conference.
“Marchisio’s injury? I’m very sorry for Claudio because he was getting his form back, but the consultant said he’d need about a month [out] because of the lack of strength in his [left] leg.
“We’ll see what he’s like within a month. I’m sorry that I don’t have him at my disposal.
“New faces? Douglas Costa’s integrating, he’s handling his workload well but I still have to decide whether to play him from the start or not.
“Like Matuidi, I'm very happy with Bentancur and I think he may be the surprise package of the season.
“Bernardeschi’s working hard and De Sciglio’s finding his feet. We’ll need everyone.
“Genoa? Tomorrow’s a game to win, but it’s not easy because Juventus have always struggled to win at Marassi.
“Last season, we made sure we didn’t struggle by scoring three goals in 27 minutes.
“It’s crucial that we pick up another three points tomorrow, close the cycle of our preparation [for the season] and have a nice break, before thinking about the Champions League and Serie A.
“Asamoah? His lack of call-up doesn’t mean he’s going, but he and the club are weighing things up as there’s only a week of the market left.
“I haven’t asked for anything in the market. Claudio needs a month [to recover] and we have plenty of players. We’re as we are for now.
“The club are thinking about the market, but for us, the most important thing is tomorrow’s game. After that, there are five more days for the market to set itself loose…
“Young players with great technical potential have come in, and we have solid foundations. Talking about the market now makes no sense.
“For Daniele [Rugani], it’s an important year, he has the opportunity to play as many games as Benatia, Barzagli and Chiellini.
“Moving to 4-3-3? I’ll try to adapt the team to the players’ characteristics. If a different player to Matuidi arrived, we might have had different needs.
“The season is long, there are so many games to play. Sometimes we’ll play with two in the middle, sometimes with three, sometimes with three and a half.
“After that, there are international. The important thing is that I have so many solutions. I’m not ruling out anything.
“Scudetto? I won’t say that Milan are favourites because they’ll say that we are, but certainly Milan are part of those teams that will take the title race down to the wire with us, Napoli, Roma and Inter.”