Alex Sandro and Juventus have agreed to a contract extension until 2023, the club announced on Thursday. The negotiation has been going on since the summer, when the Old Lady rebuffed some inquiries from PSG and Premier League giants, opting to keep the Brazilian left back on the roster. According to Sky Sport, he will earn €5M per year.
He commented to the official TV: “Today it is a very happy day for me, my family and my teammates. I can tell the fans that I will always give my 100 percent, like I have been doing so far, to get better and better. I learnt the mentality of the club over the last few years, we are always working to win and that will never change. I am glad when we are successful, if it happens thanks to my goal or my assist then all the better, but winning is the most important thing. I cherish all my goals because they are hard to come by being a defender, but the one I appreciate the most is the header against Torino.”
After a slightly underwhelming year, the defender has bounced back in the early portion of the 2018/2019, looking dominant at times. He has basically been playing with no back-up so far, collecting 20 appearances and picking up two assists.
He joined in August 2015 from Porto for a €26M fee, contributing to three Scudetti and three Coppa Italia and making an appearance in the Serie A Team of the Year twice. He has featured in 134 matches in black-and-white, scoring nine times. Since he moved to Serie A, he is the defender with most assists (13) and the highest number of chances created (142), per the official website.
Juventus today reached a social media milestone, as they are now followed by 20M users on Instagram and basically doubled their fan base there since July 1st. Per Iconosquare, the account has generated 5 billion impressions in the past few months, reaching 860M people. In November, according to DeporFinanzas, the profile has had 55,2M interactions, ranking very high among the sports clubs.
Former midfielder Claudio Marchisio talked about his abrupt farewell to La Stampa: “My sons scolded me for leaving just after Cristiano Ronaldo joined. They treat him like an Hollywood stars, he has immense pressure on him also for off-the-field stuff, but you do not notice that when he is playing. As far as I am concerned, it was time to say goodbye. I had given my whole in the numerous years in Turin. It is tough to find new energy every season in the same environment and surrounded by the same people. Improving constantly while staying in just one club is hard.”
On Serie A: “It is better than how people perceive it, we complain but it is evolving. Napoli grew, Roma showed character in dire times, Inter are looking for consistency. The rivals are getting there, but Juventus are few years ahead because of the stadium and the brand. That new logo, the J, is like the New York Yankees’ one. You need time and ideas to reach that level.”
On Champions League: “Juventus can not afford to believe they were unlucky in the draw, they need to be aware they can win it. We did not pull it off in 2017, so something was still missing, maybe in terms of focus and determination when we had to comeback. The same thing happened in Berlin against Barcelona, Dani Alves revealed that they truly feared they were going to lose in that game. You are not allowed any distraction in a final. You are punished for everything. Juventus deserve it now, maybe I will be a little sorry for missing out, but I cheer for them.”
How well do you know Italian football? Do you want to battle the best Serie A Fantasy Managers? Play ww.fantasyseriea.com now!
To leave a comment, you must be logged into www.eurofantasyleague.com