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Footballer Fernando Llorente, who gave an interview to the largest Italian sports daily "La Gazzetta dello Sport", explained the reasons for the difficult adaptation that led to his troubled start at Turin's Juventus club.
Last summer, the Spaniard decided to say goodbye to Bilbao's Athletic team and move to Italy as a free agent.
The prolonged adaptation process led to many speculations about the striker not finding a place in Antonio Conte's team, but Llorente's rapidly improving performance changed everything around.
"I started the season full of confidence and in good physical shape. However, my body was not used to such a tough workload, so I felt empty and completely drained," admitted the striker.
"Thinking goes hand in hand with the body, so it's natural that doubts arose. Moreover, the competition for a place on the field was fierce among five strikers, which added even more stress."
"Training at Juventus and Athletic teams is like day and night. In Turin, you can't take a second to rest, so my body couldn't keep up."
"Despite that, everyone around believed in me and that pushed me forward. After some time, my body adjusted to the radical changes, and I could start anew. Later, I got opportunities to perform on the field and with growing self-confidence, I played better with each match. I found a rhythm that made it easier to adapt," said the Spaniard.
"Improving my physical form gave me the chance to show my abilities on the field, and injuries to Fabio Quagliarella and Mirko Vučinić also contributed to that."
The slow adaptation led to speculation in the press that Llorente would look for another club when the winter transfer window opened, but the player himself categorically denied these rumors.
"I didn't want to leave, but it killed me to think that I was the last in the list of strikers. The most important thing is that I didn't give up and continued to work hard. Hard work always pays off," reflected the nearly two-meter giant.
"I knew that Serie A is different from other leagues, and adaptation takes time. When Michel Platini and Zinedine Zidane arrived at Juventus, they didn't adapt immediately either. It's harder to score goals in Italy because the defensive line is often tighter. Antonio Conte, who has always been by my side, warned me right at the beginning that adaptation would require patience and time," he added.
Upon arriving in the Piedmont capital, Llorente was impressed by the environment surrounding him, especially by Juventus and Italy's national team's conductor of attacks, Andrea Pirlo.
"Andrea Pirlo. I had seen what he was capable of on the field, but in training, he is unparalleled. It's unbelievable, but Pirlo and mistakes are two completely unrelated words. There are no ones who are not fascinated by his free kicks," praised Llorente the 34-year-old veteran.
This season, in 12 official matches, the striker scored four goals and made one assist.
