Juventus director Fabio Paratici assures there will be no reinforcements in January, while excluding Daniele Rugani’s sale. “He is underrated.”
The Bianconeri visit Roma this evening at 19.45 GMT, click here for the line-ups and LIVEBLOG.
Merih Demiral is again in the starting XI rather than Matthijs de Ligt, but Paratici explains it calmly.
Juventus director Fabio Paratici assures there will be no reinforcements in January, while excluding Daniele Rugani’s sale. “He is underrated.”
The Bianconeri visit Roma this evening at 19.45 GMT, click here for the line-ups and LIVEBLOG.
Merih Demiral is again in the starting XI rather than Matthijs de Ligt, but Paratici explains it calmly.
“De Ligt is doing better. He played a lot at the start of the season, including on international duty. Let’s not forget he is 19 years old. We are very happy with how he has been doing, he just needs a little rest now and then he’ll get back to his best soon,” the director told Sky Sport Italia.
“The Winter Champions title is nice, but what really counts is being on top at the end of the season. Roma are a tough opponent in a fiery atmosphere, we take them on knowing this is an important stepping stone for the campaign.”
The January transfer window is open, so naturally Petrachi was asked about the many rumours doing the rounds at the moment.
“The Scudetto race is complicated and includes Lazio, who have a very strong squad, as they showed against us, and Inter have already bought many top level players this summer like Romelu Lukaku, Alexis Sanchez, Nicolò Barella and Stefano Sensi, so it’d be a surprise if they were to make even more big investments.
“We believe that we have a very competitive squad and for a while you in the media told us we had too many players. Therefore, it seems unlikely we’d need to bring in any more in January.
“We are evaluating with Marko Pjaca, as he has been injured and needs playing time. We’re also evaluating if he could remain with us, if there aren’t options that satisfy all parties.”
There continue to be stories in the English media of Arsenal, Chelsea, Leicester City and more going after Rugani.
“I can exclude right now that Daniele Rugani will leave. We need to see what happens with Giorgio Chiellini. People tend to forget he has played quite a few games and won important trophies.
“My concern is that because Rugani is so quiet, well-mannered, doesn’t make a big fuss or is a fashionable player, he ends up being underestimated.”