OFFICIALLY OFFICIAL: Claudio Marchisio leaves Juventus

On the final day of the Serie A summer transfer window, one of Juventus’ pillars over the past decade announced the news that nobody wanted to hear on the eve of a brand new season getting underway.

It’s official. We now live in a world where Claudio Marchisio isn’t a Juventus player.

The Turin-born prince of Juve’s youth academy that has spent all but seven years of his life in bianconero is heading elsewhere. Just when it looked like he could be staying put after a summer of transfer rumors, Juventus announced Friday morning that they have agreed to mutually part ways with Marchisio.

That video shows you all you need to know about Marchisio.

For over a decade he’s been a part Juventus’ senior squad after starting as a elementary schooler in the youth academy. We saw him make his debut in Serie B as a teenager, with then-manager Didier Deschamps showing plenty of faith in a young but obviously talented midfielder that was playing for his boyhood club.

So much of Marchisio’s class, so much of his appeal as a player came from the fact that he was the hometown hero who made good. He was Juve’s No. 8 who reminded us of midfielders of the past. He was the few bright spots during the two consecutive seventh-place finishes as he established himself as a key figure both for club and country.

He was just that reliable presence in the midfield as other names came and went, a player who never got the kind of recognition that he truly deserved because he wasn’t flashy or scoring loads of goals like some of his other teammates.

The rumors of Marchisio leaving this summer ended up being 100 percent the truth. We don’t know where he’s going or what jersey he’s going to wear next, but the impact Marchisio made while spending 2 ¹⁄₂ decades in bianconero will never be forgotten.

In a summer where we’ve said goodbye to Gianluigi Buffon and Stephan Lichtsteiner, we now add another club legend, Marchisio, to the list. One era has ended and another one has officially begun.

Dammit.

Dammit all to hell.

Marchisio is now gone, off to play his football somewhere for the first time since he spent a season on loan with Empoli after Juve earned promotion back to Serie A.

But he sure as hell isn’t going to be forgotten. Nope, there’s absolutely no chance of that.