Not only was Sunday's 3-2 friendly win over West Ham United the first chance to see Juventus' new zebra-themed third kit in action, but also the opportunity to see a couple of summer signings to make their (unofficial) debuts with the club.
There was Dani Alves. There was Gonzalo Higuain and his not-so-slender summer body. And there was also our first glimpse of Marko Pjaca in a Juventus jersey as the young Croatian winger came on as a second-half substitute.
/sound the celebratory horns/
We've already gotten to know the 21-year-old Pjaca a little over a week ago on this blog. The only thing left to do was to actually see him step out onto a field wearing Juventus colors and getting screamed instructions at by Max Allegri. Even with it being a friendly, both of those things happened on Sunday. And we have video proof of it all!
Is two-plus minutes the biggest sample size? Of course not.
But watching the highlight video above, and I had just one thought continuously pop into my head: Marko Pjaca sure does like to take on defenders and roll out his bag of tricks.
Now, West Ham won't be the gold standard of teams that Juve face this season. Nor will West Ham's second-half lineup be the best lineup Juve face this season. But to see Pjaca taking on defenders, combining with Higuain and the likes, even showing off a shot from outside the box that went zooming just past the upper-right corner of the West Ham goal.
Pjaca has talent — and what looks like a lot of it. I don't think anybody can really deny that at this point. The more we see him, the more we will (hopefully) see Pjaca grow into a player that has a big impact on Juventus this season and beyond. For now, though, we will have to live with a two-minute video of Pjaca's first Juventus appearance until there are more Juventus appearances to talk about. Sounds good?