Claudio Marchisio talks Juventus signing Miralem Pjanic, knee surgery rehabilitation

If we didn't see Claudio Marchisio suffer a knee injury against Palermo in April, who knows where signing a central midfielder ranks on Juventus' to-do list this summer. Maybe signing a central midfielder isn't all too much of a priority. Maybe the onus is put on something else rather than trying to find a stellar midfielder that is capable of filling the void left by Marchisio's lengthy absence.

As it has happened, though, Juventus' first signing in the month of June ended up being Miralem Pjanic for €32 million on Monday after a swift and effective negotiating period with Roma. And even though Pjanic may be a guy who could very well play the same role Marchisio has for more or less the past two seasons, the Turin-born midfielder gave his stamp of approval during the unveiling of his book 'Nero su Bianco' on Thursday.

What a guy, right?

"He's a magnificent player and I can't wait for him to play alongside us. It's an excellent acquisition, bolstering an already top-rate squad that has improved on year on year thanks to the capture of players such as Pjanic, someone who is capable of changing a game by himself."

Nothing in the above paragraph of Marchisio speak is wrong. Juventus' squad is already very good, and the Pjanic signing has made it even better. That's because Pjanic is capable of doing amazing things on the field at any given moment. He can drop dimes with the best of them, he can score amazing free kicks. Basically, he's a pretty awesome player to watch. And now we can say he's a Juventus player, which is pretty great if you ask me.

And seeing as Marchisio is out for at least the first month or two of the 2016-17 season, we're bound to see Max Allegri field Pjanic play a holding midfielder at some point relatively soon after Serie A games begin. That's nothing official yet, but seeing as Pjanic can distribute the ball extremely well, I feel like it's a pretty logical assumption at this point.

"My recovery is coming along nicely. I feel in good nick, my rehabilitation is going according to plan and I can't wait to get back running with my team-mates.

"It wasn't easy to miss out on the end-of-season celebrations with my team-mates, while sat on the sofa watching the Euros is also a wrench. I'm Italy's biggest fan and hope we go as far as possible."

Even with Pjanic on board, Marchisio's health will be a big topic once preseason training starts up next month. And when they're both able to play on the field together, then the fun will really begin. (And it's not like life will suck with Pjanic directing Juve's midfield, either.)