Ex-Juventus man Claudio Marchisio claims football is too suffocating in Italy. “Gianluigi Buffon told me he would’ve gone abroad a few years earlier…”
Marchisio had been a one-club man with Juventus, barring a loan spell at Empoli, prior to his free transfer to Zenit St Petersburg last year, while Buffon joined Paris Saint-Germain after 17 seasons of service to the Old Lady.
“Buffon was right,” the midfielder told Corriere della Sera.
Ex-Juventus man Claudio Marchisio claims football is too suffocating in Italy. “Gianluigi Buffon told me he would’ve gone abroad a few years earlier…”
Marchisio had been a one-club man with Juventus, barring a loan spell at Empoli, prior to his free transfer to Zenit St Petersburg last year, while Buffon joined Paris Saint-Germain after 17 seasons of service to the Old Lady.
“Buffon was right,” the midfielder told Corriere della Sera.
“He told me if he knew before that football abroad was lived so differently, he would’ve gone there a few years earlier.
“You live a different life, you savour a certain kind of freedom that is lacking in Italy.
“You know the image of a bus arriving at a stadium? That’s the life of a footballer in Italy in a nutshell: there’s an escort everywhere you go and you don’t even notice it.
“Only once you live a different kind of freedom on a daily basis do you realise how thick that bubble is.”
The 33-year-old was then asked about Cristiano Ronaldo’s impact on Juve after their Champions League exit.
“From what I saw of him this summer before leaving Turin, everything revolved around him because ht raised the level of each player and gave us a lot of self-esteem,” he added.
“Having said that, a champion, no matter how big, can’t give you the certainty of winning, otherwise Ronaldo and Messi would’ve split the last 10-15 Champions Leagues.
“The dream shattered because this hadn’t been questioned: football isn’t an exact science.”