welcome Diego

Diego in white & black

26 May 2009
Juventus Football Club announces that the agreement with Werder Bremen for the acquisition of the registration rights of the player Da Cunha Diego has been finalized. Juventus and the player have signed a 5-year contract of employment starting from 1 July 2009.
The Brazilian midfielder, yesterday in Turin for medical check-up and for signing the agreement, went back to Germany where on Saturday May, 30th, will play the Germany Cup final vs. Bayer Leverkusen. Before going back to Brema he declared: «I’m enthusiastic of Juventus and proud of becoming part of such a prestigious club, a club I’ve been dreaming of since I was a little boy. After the experience in Portugal and in the Bundesliga I will have the chance to face a very high level soccer, in a difficult and very competitive championship. It’s the right time of my career to take such an important decision and I’m sure with Juventus I will be able to achieve great successes. But now I want to concentrate on Saturday’s final: I want to leave Werder’s supporters in the best way possible, because it’s also thanks to them if in these years I’ve grown up, so to deserve this new opportunity».

«Thanks to his technical characteristics – Juventus’ CEO Jean-Claude Blanc stated – Diego becomes a fundamental player to strengthen the team. We have always said that our goal is to put young men and champions together and Diego summarizes both these two identities: even though he’s only 24, in fact, he is a great experience player, with more than 7 years as a professional at high levels. I’m sure his contribution will be important to make Juventus keep on growing and to make a further step forward, considering our next goals».

«Registering this contract – Sport Director Alessio Secco added – we have definitively entered an agreement we’ve been working on for many months. Diego is a unique player and to bring him to Juventus we had to compete with some of most important European Clubs. His acquisition increases the team potentiality and will allow testing different forms of play. His performances during the last sport seasons, and his personality that made him special in Germany and in Europe, are the confirmation to his qualities. He will be a further “weapon” to face with faith also the next Champions League, mathematically achieved last Sunday ».

The attacking midfielder with a compact and fast physique has excellent technique and vision of play. He is a complete player who is good at dribbling, sudden changes of pace and creating numerical superiority. He is very precise with long balls, has a powerful shot and is particularly skilled at taking free-kicks, capabilities which make him a great finisher. After ghaving made his debut with Santos in 2002 at 16 years of age he was transferred to Porto after two years during which he won 2 championships. At Porto he spent 2 seasons winning the Intercontinental Cup, a championship and a Portuguese Supercup before being transferred to Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga. In Germany Diego’s career exploded winning a League Cup and being named best player of the championship in 2007. In the meantime he has been winning himself more and more space in the Brazilian national team with which side he won two Coppa America (in 2004 and 2007) and a bronze medal at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. In the last season Diego played 32 matches and scored 20 goals (Championship: 20 appearances – 12 goals, European Cups: 8 appearances – 6 goals, German Cup: 4 appearances – 2 goals).

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