Giorgio Chiellini believes Juventus will successfully adapt to the loss of Leonardo Bonucci, comparing the defender’s sale to the departures of Paul Pogba, Arturo Vidal and Andrea Pirlo.
Pogba’s move to Manchester United a year ago did not stop Juventus from winning the Serie A title for the sixth season in a row, while Pirlo and Vidal are among the club’s other high-profile departures in recent years.
Chiellini had formed a formidable partnership with Bonucci at Juve but the Italy centre-back insists Massimiliano Allegri’s side will recover from his compatriot’s shock sale to AC Milan.
“Bonucci? Pirlo and Vidal also left, as did Pogba,” Chiellini told La Stampa. “It takes a while to adapt and you also have to wait for the new signings [to settle in].
“Maybe we’ve lost something from our game, but we have the best attack. Maybe [Miralem] Pjanic will drop back a bit.”
@chiellini : “We needed a match like this with a higher pace and rhythm in view of the Super Cup final.” pic.twitter.com/i5pPbMgvwc
— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) August 6, 2017
Juventus rounded off their pre-season campaign with a 2-0 loss to Premier League side Tottenham in London on Saturday and Chiellini believes the defeat will be the wake-up call Juve needed ahead of their new season, which starts with the Supercoppa Italiana against Lazio on Sunday.
“Spurs? We went into [the game] from three demanding weeks in the United States and two days of days of intense training,” Chiellini said. “I was expecting us to struggle, but it was better to face a team that played with intensity.
“We needed a slap in the face, to wake up from the slumber. The objective is to be ready for the Supercoppa. We’re better now than we were last season.”
