Manager Luigi Delneri believes striker Luca Toni is exactly what Juventus need to build on an impressive first half of the Serie A season.
Toni joined Juve on a free transfer from Genoa on Friday and could make his debut against Napoli on Sunday.
While some have questioned the merits of signing a 33-year-old, Delneri believes the striker is the perfect addition to his team – particularly given the absence of injured forward Fabio Quagliarella.
“Toni is the player we were looking for because of his experience and goal-scoring skills,” Delneri said.
“He would have joined the team regardless of Quagliarella’s injury. These two players are different but they both have important skills in the penalty area. Now we have an extra option: a strong player with great skills.”
“He has scored many goals in the last few years. Sometimes they say he is old, but he is not. He is fit and at the same age some other players like del Piero who scored 25 goals in Serie A. We opted for the experience and for a player with great skills, for a guy who will support us. I’m very happy about it.”
Delneri also spoke about his team’s performance so far this season and insisted fans should not be overly negative after Juve’s 4-1 defeat to Parma on Thursday.
“I believe that Juventus can react very well, they have proved capable and no-one should forget the run of 18 matches undefeated,” he said.
“Only very few teams have managed to do it in the championship this year. I have to say that Juventus is missing some wins, but we have the same number of defeats as AC Milan up to now. We’re missing some points and some better managed matches.”
“We should keep on believing in what we’re doing. We believe in what we’re doing: this will be our mantra or our ‘no limits’ until the end of the championship, which will I’m sure will be a positive one.”
Sun 9 January, 2011
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