Massimiliano Allegri has shared his view of Federico Chiesa’s new role at Juventus following a thumping 3-0 victory at Udinese on Sunday. In a post-match interview with DAZN (via Tuttomercatoweb), the Bianconeri boss delivered an update on a potentially transformative year for the 25-year-old.
After a summer packed with wild speculation over Chiesa’s future, ranging from Bayern Munich to Manchester United, the Italy international embarked on another Serie A season in style. The versatile Juventus forward opened the scoring at the Dacia Arena only two minutes into the game with a sublime finish from outside the box.
Besides a well-taken strike, Chiesa, who has now scored in back-to-back league appearances against Udinese, was arguably the liveliest Juventus performer this evening. He showed his fancy footwork before laying off a nifty backheel for Andrea Cambiasso, who then picked out Adrien Rabiot for the visitors’ third of the night.
Unlike last season, Allegri changed Chiesa’s position, which proved a resounding success. The former Fiorentina star operated as a wing-back in 2022/23, often forced to drop deep to defend. But tonight, he lined up alongside Dusan Vlahovic as a second striker, a position he could be occupying for the remainder of Allegri’s managerial career at Juventus.
“In my opinion, Chiesa is a striker, then maybe I’m wrong, but in my opinion, he is a striker. As a winger, he isolates himself too much and becomes just a transition player,” Allegri said.
The Juventus manager also backed his lightning-quick forward to hit a 14-goal landmark this term.
“I think he is improving with Vlahovic, who in that position can improve out of possession phase. Chiesa must be a key player, and I believe he will succeed this year, with 14-16 goals.”
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