Mattia Perin ‘very happy’ that Juventus are interested in signing him

Sometimes, clubs don’t say much at all when it comes to potential moves. The player in desire is quiet, the directors of both negotiating parties are basically giving you nothing to work with other than a “We’ll see” and that’s about it. Recycled quotes from the week before are subsequently recycled the next week as well. It’s an endless cycle that helps nobody.

Juventus’ pursuit of Mattia Perin is not one of those instances.

In a very, very good interview with the Corriere di Torino on Monday, Perin has spoken about how flattering it is that Juventus are interested in signing him and — wait for it — how he’s going to welcome the opportunity to sign with the seven-time defending Italian champions.

Behold, nearly 300 words of Perin talking about a potential move to Juventus this summer:

“Knowing that I’m one of their objectives makes me very happy. Not everyone is liked by Juventus. That alone is a source of pride for me. I’m very happy.

“Is the deal done? I don’t know, but it’s clear that if there was the possibility, I’d join them. We’ll see, also with Genoa. We’ll listen to all the possibilities, but then again: to be a Juventus objective can’t be anything but a source of great pride for a player. It’ll be a choice that I’ll make in the next few days.

“Do I dream of playing in the Champions League? If I leave my home, Genoa, it’ll be precisely to pursue this dream. Therefore, I’d like to do it with a team that allow me to play on these kinds of stages. I want to see if I can. I think I can play my cards right.

“Scared by Szczesny? I endured some bad times because of injuries, but I feel strong. I won’t say it’s a walk in the park, but I think I have the strength to overcome such difficulties. I repeat, I’m aware Juventus are a great club, that I’ll find another great goalkeeper and there will be space for me to play.

“Ready for the competition? Yes, and did I mention that I’m competitive? I’ll sweat every day, I’ll try to always do my best and make it difficult for the Coach. It’ll be an important year to grow.

“Buffon? For me, when Gigi stops, we’re a group of goalkeepers who want his Azzurri jersey. That’s also my objective and I hope to earn it. I’ve already spoken to him. He’s been a reference point for any goalkeeper in the world. I think he’ll go down as the best of all time.”

(Source: Football Italia)

The biggest things to come out of this are easy to identify:

• Perin is down with signing with Juventus.
• If there’s even a relatively small chance that Juve are interested — which, I think, is pretty certain at this point — that Perin would jump at the opportunity.
• As was stated over the weekend, Perin wants Champions League football and Juventus is obviously a club that offers that.
• He’s competitive, so the presence of Wojciech Szczesny isn’t that much of a problem to him even though Woj has been declared next season’s starter in goal months in advance.
• Perin, like a lot of us here, thinks Buffon is the GOAT.

This negotiation process is very different than what you might think because all sides from Genoa seem to be very open to discussing it. Perin has talked about it. Multiple Genoa front office members have talked about it. That’s something I’m definitely not used to. It’s usually the agent of the player blabbering on and on and on about a potential transfer, not one of the negotiating parties. (And it’s usually not Beppe Marotta.)

But the biggest thing Genoa have said since the Perin-to-Juve talk started is that the player will dictate where he goes rather than a complete auction for his services taking place. And with we just read from Perin himself, it sounds like Juventus is his No. 1 choice right now.