Vidal set to sign for Juventus
Reuters - Thursday 21 July 2011, 08:12
SANTIAGO - Chile midfielder Arturo
Vidal has confirmed that he is to join Juventus from Bayer
Leverkusen.
Vidal, 24, told reporters at Santiago airport that he was
flying to Italy to finalise the deal.
"I'm happy, it's a big and important step for my career at
one of the biggest clubs in Europe," said Vidal, a versatile
midfielder who combines tenacity with skill and has spent four
seasons at Leverkusen.
"I'm very content about this new opportunity that I'm being
given. It's a new team which is being built with the aim of
being champions and qualifying for international competitions."
Vidal had also been targeted by Bayern Munich but
Leverkusen, who finished second in the Bundesliga last season,
did not want to sell him to their close rivals.
"My experience in Germany will be useful to me in Italy,
because tactically it's a similar kind of football," said Vidal.
Juventus finished a disappointing seventh in Serie A last
season and missed out on European competition.
They have since replaced coach Luigi Delneri with former
midfielder Antonio Conte and last month splashed out 37 million
euros to make four players - Alessandro Matri, Fabio
Quagliarella, Simone Pepe and Marco Motta - permanent signings.
The club has also been linked with Villarreal striker
Giuseppe Rossi and Atletico Madrid's Sergio Aguero.
Vidal began his career with Colo Colo and helped Chile reach
the semi-finals of the under-20 world championship in 2007. He
played in the Chile team which reached the second round at last
year's World Cup.