The agent of Juventus defender Daniele Rugani says there’s an ‘idea in principle’ regarding his contract renewal, but no talks with Juve have taken place as yet. Davide Torchia spoke with Juventus news site TuttoJuve about the future of his client, whose contract is set to end in June 2024:
The 7 points won in the first three days allow Juventus to present themselves in the challenge against Lazio from third position in the standings. What is your opinion on this start to the championship?
“Every season brings an air of novelty, from the game to the new players. Juve has come back from a turbulent year that was experienced not so much on a technical level but on many other aspects that we know very well. Last season was complicated and hard to live through, so there is a great desire on everyone’s part to get back to winning a place in the Europe that counts. Considering, moreover, that an economic – as well as technical – reorganisation is underway on their part, which seeks to fall within certain lower parameters in order to guarantee the club’s sustainability.”
Do you see it as very different from how it looked a year ago at this time?
“There was a lot of talk, especially after the first game, about the aggressiveness with which to go and press the opposition higher up the pitch, this led Juventus to have the dominance of the game in more minutes than the whole game. This is a benefit, because with the great quality of the individuals you can hurt more and suffer much less.”
Bremer, in the pre-match interview, said that from this year the defenders will be a bit more of a regista. Do you think everyone, including Daniele, will be able to perform as well as the coach requires?
“I don’t see it as a huge novelty, because it’s a bit of a long-standing approach for the defenders with the coach. It’s not that last year they were kicking the ball into the stands, they were still trying to make that kind of play. They’re always looking for a drop in between the midfielders, the lateral outlet or to build space to try to carry the offensive action forward. I agree with building and not destroying play, but this is a quality that every defender playing for Juventus must have.”
This is the ninth year that Rugani has been owned by Juventus, not considering the loans he has had during his career. Did you expect him to meet that kind of expectation?
“When you go to a club like Juventus, the goal is to be able to say you are playing for the team you were a fan of as a child for ten years. These are things you always say, even if it’s difficult to imagine it beforehand. I can say that in these years, from 2010 onwards, it is difficult to stay at a club for so long, but in this case the goal is not so far away.”
A question to you as a former player: is this kind of longevity worth more now or in your time?
“In my time you changed more to try to get to the right team, for what was your size. And when you reached it, the goal was to stay there as long as possible, taking into account, logically, the results achieved. Before, teams would only change those who had disappointed, but today with the money-rich markets it is easier to please clubs and players. It has become more difficult.”
Is Rugani telling you about how he is living this new season?
“Daniele hardly ever goes into specific details, certainly what is apparent is that there is no longer the same leadership of Italian players as there was years and years ago. The slightly older ones are trying to help the newcomers get to know Juventus better, to transmit the DNA of the club. This also happened to him when he arrived many years ago.”
Have there already been meetings with the club to talk about renewal?
“There hasn’t been any meeting with the club, at the moment there is only an outline idea. We’ll see if it can develop over the coming months.”
