Arturo Vidal never stopped following Juventus. Four league titles, years of shared suffering and triumph, and a bond with the club that he frames in this Gazzetta interview as the most important of his career. “La Juventus è il club a cui resto più legato. I miei figli sono cresciuti lì — l’Italia sarà sempre nel mio cuore.” The platform is established: this is a man who speaks as an insider, not an observer, and what he says about the club’s current situation carries the weight of someone who has lived its highest standards from the inside.
“The Sixth Place Last Season Was a Failure — Full Stop”
The most pointed institutional verdict comes early: “More than from Spalletti, I expect more from Juventus. The sixth place of last season is a failure, regardless of the manager. A club with that history must always fight to win the championship.” The formulation is careful — “regardless of the manager” distributes responsibility broadly rather than targeting Spalletti exclusively — but the directional judgement is clear. The standards Vidal lived by at Juventus are absolute. Sixth place, by those standards, is not an acceptable result.
“Conte Is Extraordinary — the Best Tactically in Absolute Terms. Antonio Is Worth a Hundred-Million Signing”
The Conte section is the interview’s centrepiece, and Vidal approaches it with the authority of someone who won three consecutive Serie A titles alongside him at Juventus and then worked with him again at Inter: “Antonio is an extraordinary manager, the best in absolute terms tactically. It doesn’t surprise me that supporters dream of his return. He is a winner — he transmits his mentality to everyone. I am convinced that Antonio would restore to Juventus the spirit and the ambition to want to win everything.” On whether a manager can carry a club’s fortunes as a top player might: “Yes, like a hundred-million signing. And you almost always triumph. But nobody wins alone, not even him — he has to be surrounded by strong players with the right mentality.”
Conte’s Working Method — “Impressive in How He Studies the Match and His Opponents”
The technical assessment goes beyond rhetoric: “Conte is impressive for how he studies matches, opponents, and transmits to players what they have to do on the pitch.” The specific capacity Vidal describes — the pre-match preparation, the analytical depth, the ability to intervene on the mental dimension as well as the tactical — is precisely what the current squad has been described as lacking. Giaccherini called for a dressing-room fight to generate it organically. Vidal’s implicit argument is that with Conte, it arrives by design.
On Inzaghi — “Antonio Is on Another Level”
Asked directly to compare Conte and Simone Inzaghi, both linked to Juventus’s future, Vidal does not equivocate: “Antonio is on another level.” The directness is notable given that he worked with Inzaghi at Inter after Conte’s departure and has no personal grievance to express. It is a pure footballing assessment from someone who experienced both managers from the inside.
“I Will Return to Juventus — as a Manager”
The personal coda: “Alla Juventus tornerò in futuro, da allenatore.” Vidal is 39, still playing for Colo-Colo in Chile, and is already mapping a path back to Torino when his playing days are over. The affection is genuine, the ambition is stated, and the timing — an interview on the morning of a Lecce away day with the project under maximum pressure — gives the promise its particular resonance.
