Napoli central defender Juan Jesus reflected on his time at the Azzurri under Luciano Spalletti at the helm of the club thus far in an interview.
Since arriving from Serie A outfit Roma in the summer of 2021, the Brazilian defender made a total of 26 appearances for I Partenopei across all competitions.
However, with Algerian international Amir Rahmani out with a long-term ankle injury, the 31 year-old has emerged as the Tuscan tactician’s number one choice alongside Kim within the back-line.
While speaking to the media, relayed by Italian news outlet Tuttomercatoweb, Jesus expressed what it meant being a player of Napoli and how much Spalletti and the support from the fans has helped him since his arrival in Naples:
“Spalletti? He helped me a lot, he wanted me. When I was at Inter Mancini wanted to keep me, but Spalletti wanted me a lot at Roma and that time I decided to change because I wanted something more. At Inter I experienced good and bad moments, I matured there. With Spalletti I had two wonderful years at Roma and then he also gave me the opportunity in Naples. Without a but and without a why, after not playing for Roma for two years, Spalletti arrived and brought me here to Naples. I am not one who complains or disrespects, no one believed in me anymore, but he did. And I think I answered the best, I made my best career performances. I will always thank Spalletti for giving me this opportunity when no one wanted to give me one.
Sometimes I like to be alone with nature, I need to recharge my energy. Spalletti always tells me ‘put your shoes on’, but I want to walk alone for 20-30 minutes. We live in the age of technology, it is nice to disappear from everything even for a short time and find peace. On social media I have a very clean image, I’m the one there and the same here too. I have no filters, I have no double faces. Using them for our work is okay, but I want to give young people some advice: use it with caution.
Naples is a thousand colors, a city that welcomed me very well from the first day. I really felt like I was in Brazil because of how warm and helpful people are, they put you at ease. We play in the city team, everyone cheers for Naples, from grandfather to uncle. When we win, we feel that the city has important energy. Just as when we lose there are bad feelings and everyone is silent. Naples is a city of heart, I really feel at home “