Fernando Llorente says he cannot wait to play for Juventus and partner with Carlos Tevez in the Bianconeri’s attack after officially signing for the Italian champions on Monday, reports Soccernet.
Llorente, 28, has joined Juve on a free transfer after his
contract with Athletic Bilbao expired this summer.The Spain international arrived in Turin on Monday to undergo a medical and put pen to paper on a four-year contract before his official presentation on Tuesday afternoon.
Delighted to finally arrive – an agreement over a transfer was agreed in January – Llorente now cannot wait to get to work with his new team-mates, and Tevez, 29, in particular.
‘I’m really pleased to be here and to play with Tevez,’ he said as he signed autographs outside Juve’s headquarters in Turin.
Llorente is the second missing piece in the Bianconeri’s jigsaw as the back-to-back Scudetto winners look to transform their domestic success into a more competitive edge in the Champions League, after being shown their limitations by Bayern Munich last season.
Mirko Vucinic, Fabio Quagliarella, Alessandro Matri and Sebastian Giovinco all came in for criticism last season as Juve’s spluttering attack left Antonio Conte’s side increasingly reliant on goals from midfield.
With Llorente and Tevez, the belief is that Juve now have their strongest
attack since David Trezeguet and Alessandro Del Piero fired them to their last Champions League final in 2003.
‘Tevez and Llorente are two really nice presents from (president Andrea) Agnelli,’ defender Leonardo Bonucci told Gazzetta dello Sport. ‘Juve’s aim is not only going to be confirming ourselves for the third year in a row in Italy, but achieving something big in Europe too.’
John Elkann, president of Juve’s owners, Fiat, added: ‘Today is a great day for Fernando. I am very happy for him and for Tevez. Juve have always had strong No. 10s and Carlitos [Tevez] is one of those. We have a strong squad and we are going to be the team to beat because we are the defending champions.’
-With New Age input
