Alcaraz feels it’s ‘difficult but not impossible’ to convince at Juventus

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ByApollo Heyes

Feb 10, 2024 17:58

New Juventus midfielder Carlos Alcaraz joked about the comparisons with the tennis star, how negotiations went with Southampton and his desire to earn his spot in Turin.

The 21-year-old Argentine joined the Bianconeri from the Saints last month on a six-month loan deal worth €5.6m total with a €49.5m plus add-ons buy option attached, a fee that raised some eyebrows. During his year with Southampton, he scored eight goals and provided five assists across 47 games.

Alcaraz made his Juventus debut in their painful Derby d’Italia loss to Inter last weekend, making a brief cameo appearance off the bench. He’ll be hoping to make his first start in the coming weeks as he looks to convince the Old Lady to activate his costly buy option.

Speaking to DAZN via TMW, Alcaraz was first asked about the comparisons with the tennis player with the same name.

“They write it a lot on Instagram, they tell me that I left tennis for football, or things like that. I take it with humour.”

He spoke about his favourite position on the pitch.

“The one where the ball is… I don’t know if I’m messy, I like to run and I usually play in midfield, whether it’s in the middle, on the right or on the left. At Racing I played more often on the left.”

The Argentinian midfielder remembered Lautaro Martinze from their time together at Racing.

“I was lucky enough to have him, not as a teammate, but to follow him in training. What he is doing now in his club is fantastic. I was 15-16 years old at the time, I was a child. He is also doing very well in the national team, in the racing academy he is everyone’s idol.

“When we faced each other, he said nice words to me, that if I needed anything in Italy, I could count on him. He’s a great figure, it’s wonderful that he said certain things to me.”

Alcaraz looked back at the negotiations that took him from Southampton to Juventus.

“It was my agent, Sebastian. It was a super quick negotiation, he was in Southampton with me, we were about to eat and they called him to tell him that there was interest from Juventus.

“I didn’t really believe it, and neither did he. He was negotiating with other English clubs, it was all very quick. The next day they made an offer and then it became reality, in two days, here we are.”

He touched on his first conversation with coach Massimiliano Allegri.

“No, only when I arrived. He told me not to lose the humility, the fire and everything that brought me here. He told me to stay calm. The truth is that having him talk to me is a relief.”

Finally, Alcaraz was asked if he was feeling the pressure to perform at Juventus in order to convince them to activate his buy option.

“No, I’m not having a bad time. It’s difficult, but not impossible.”

Alcaraz e la prima chiamata della Juve: “Io non ci credevo. E neanche il mio agente” https://t.co/gxKLKwrzxl

— TUTTOmercatoWEB (@TuttoMercatoWeb) February 10, 2024