New Juventus Signing Emre Can Was Told He Could Not Leave Liverpool for This One Club
This week saw Emre Can's long anticipated move to Juventus finally completed, but news has since emerged that the German midfielder had one less option upon leaving Liverpool.
Can joined Juventus on Thursday on a free transfer ending his four year spell on Merseyside.
The former Bayer Leverkusen midfielder racked up 166 appearances for Liverpool since leaving Germany for £9.75m in 2014, but his recent departure was somewhat inevitable as Can refused to sign a new contract extending his stay at Anfield in the hope of gaining a more secure starting berth at pastures new.
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But there is one club that Can was told not to join by his first ever coach Toni Magliarisi, who coached a 12-year-old Emre Can at his local team SV Blau-Gelb Frankfurt and still influences the midfielder to this day.
"[Can] always knew that if he went to Juventus, I would have been the happiest man on Earth, but I told him that he had to make the best choice for his career, so never go to Inter [Milan]," Magliarisi told Gazetto Dello Sport.
"Seriously, last year I told him that he was not ready for Juventus, now he is 110 per cent."
Can's move to Juventus was of massive significance for Magliarisi, who as a Italian immigrant in Germany, was raised on the Juventus myth, idolising the likes of Del Piero and Pavel Nedvěd, the skills of whom he used as reference in his coaching.
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Can struggled to cement a place in Jürgen Klopp's starting-eleven at Liverpool in his final years at the club, and a move elsewhere will no doubt benefit his career.
Liverpool will hope that Fabinho, who was promptly brought in as Can's replacement, can perform on a more consistent basis for the Reds, and help them mount a sustained title challenge next season.
