Leandro Paredes confirmed that he insisted on joining Juventus in the summer, even though their pursuit lasted almost the entire window given the difficulties in striking a deal with PSG. He also took a shot at his former superstar teammate Kylian Mbappé in a brief interview with ESPN Argentina (via SportMediaset).
“Switching teams before the World Cup was a difficult decision since I knew I would have to adapt to the new surroundings. But I think it was the correct one. I needed to play regularly to arrive to Qatar in the best possible fashion and to do it in a great team like the Bianconeri, which was one of my dreams. It was the right call.”
Paredes added that Angel Di Maria picking Juventus contributed to his choice.
“Staying close to him was a factor too. I wanted to keep playing and having fun along with him. It was very important to me.”
The midfielder provided an ice-cold answer when asked about Kylian Mbappé.
“I can’t speak about somebody I had no relationship with.”
Paredes transferred to Juventus on a season-long loan with a conditioned €22.6M obligation to buy. The Bianconeri would have to pay €2.5M if they didn’t redeem him next summer. He has started every game so far, providing an assist.
It was recently reported that the Argentinian internationals would head to their home country early to prepare for the World Cup, missing the final Serie A game before the November break. In the Old Lady’s case, it would be the clash with Lazio. But Di Maria explicitly dismissed the notion on Instagram, calling it ‘fake news.’
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