Legendary Inter defender Giuseppe Bergomi identifies Manuel Locatelli as the most irreplaceable player at Juventus.
The 26-year-old had his highs and lows since joining the Bianconeri in the summer of 2021. While he had always been perceived as a box-to-box midfielder, Max Allegri insisted on deploying him as a deep-lying playmaker.
And while the Italian excelled at shielding the backline, his playmaking skills left much to be desired. Nevertheless, the former Sassuolo man is slowly but surely coming into his own as a true Regista, and has been showing encouraging signs under the tutelage of Thiago Motta.
But while the Juventus coach has named Teun Koopmeiners as his most indispensable player, Bergomi, on the other hand, sees it differently, lauding Locatelli as the club’s most essential player in the middle of the park.
“The one Thiago Motta needs most is Locatelli,” said the 1982 World Cup winner during his appearance on Sky Calcio Club via JuventusNews24.
“I would never leave out someone like him. He played a great game in Udine.”
The iconic Inter defender also reserved some praise for Locatelli’s partner-in-crime Khephren Thuram.
“I also saw Thuram doing very well. The two of them in the middle of the park were great against Udinese.”
While Locatelli sat deep and pulled the strings from the middle of the park, Thuram was the one pushing forward, basically acting as the box-to-box midfielder.
The Frenchman produced the opener in the 2-o win. He dribbled past his marker before unleashing a low drive that hit the post before bouncing off the goalkeeper’s back and into the net.
The 23-year-old also drove the ball forward in the buildup for Nicolo Savona’s goal.
It remains to be seen if Motta will maintain this midfield duo for the Champions League contest against Lille, or hand opportunities to Nicolo Fagioli and Weston McKennie.
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