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Remember the last guy who wore the fabled No. 10 shirt at Juventus? You might. He was a pretty good player who spent a decent amount of time at the club. He was so influential, he even got to be captain for a couple of years and lifted a few trophies along the way.
Yeah, that Alessandro Del Piero fella certainly left his mark in his two decades with Juventus. Now, according to reports out of Italy on Monday, a certain Arturo Vidal wants to be the next in line to wear the No. 10 after it was left vacant after ADP's career with Juve came to an end.
Courtesy of Football Italia:
Arturo Vidal wants to wear the Juventus No. 10 jersey next season, according to Sky Sport Italia.
The shirt hasn't been used in Turin since Alessandro Del Piero left the Old lady in the summer of 2012 at the end of his contract.
There were suggestions that the returning Sebastian Giovinco would be given the number, but he ultimately opted for the No. 12 instead.
Sky are today claiming that the South American midfielder has asked the club to give him the 10 for the next campaign.
Vidal, who joined the Bianconeri in the summer of 2011 from Bayer Leverkusen, has worn the No. 22 and No 23 jerseys since his arrival.
First thing (in hindsight): Can you imagine the level of outrage Giovinco would have gotten if he struggled while wearing the No. 10 jersey this past season? Yeah, and we all thought we talked about him enough as is this season...
Second thing: He may not be a model fantasista who wears the No. 10 or an awesome seconda punta like ADP or the others who have worn it in the past, but there's one thing for certain — he's Juventus' best player. There's no doubting it, really. Arturo Vidal is really, really good at what he does.
That's at least the reasoning behind why those say he should get the holy grail of jersey numbers at Juve. He's been at the club long enough to fully comprehend just how important it is and has certainly done plenty to deserve the right to ask for it (if it is indeed true). And when you consider that a high-profile striker is likely going to arrive this summer, why put that kind of pressure on somebody who has new played at the club before? Just an honest question, ya know.
This isn't a stats-based argument, though. The No. 10 at Juventus is more than just the representation of a player that has incredible value to the club on the field. I mean, the last player who wore had it for almost two decades. If that doesn't show how important it is, I don't know what else there is to say.
But, for now, all we'll have to do is wait and imagine what could be with Arturo Vidal and the most famous number at Juventus that nobody is currently wearing.