It’s fair to say that Aaron Ramsey’s first 18 months at Juventus has not lived up to expectations. The Welsh international started slowly and went downhill from there mainly thanks to Maurizio Sarri not actually wanting him in his squad.
There is now hope for the 30-year-old however, who returned to the scoresheet last weekend under the tutelage of Andrea Pirlo.
It’s also been revealed by friends who are close to the player that he is desperate to be a success in Turin and that he’s keen to seek inspiration from some unlikely sources in his attempts to win over the Juventus faithful.
GAZZA GIVES HIS VERDICT
After news broke this week that former Lazio star Paul Gascoigne is set to appear on the Italian version of “I’m A Celebrity,” there have been more revelations from Gazza’s people that Ramsey had a Zoom call with the likeable Geordie at the start of the year to ask for advice on how to make it in Serie A.
Gazza’s immediate response was to tell the Welsh international that the first thing he needs to do is find a film crew willing to let him burp in their faces and move on from there.
He also offered to give his old mate Gazzetta pal James Richardson a call to see if it would be possible for him to go over to Turin and film Aaron giving us the lowdown on the famous city. However, Channel 4 are said to be unconvinced unless Ramsey gets hair extensions and agrees to pose with a tiger and snake, with their presenter preferring to use his holidays to film the World’s Strongest Man at the end of the year.
Do: Promote yourself through local and international media
Don’t: Eat ice-cream every day on the piazza while pretending to read Corriere della Sera
A SMALL WORD OF ADVICE
Ramsey was all set to come up against former Manchester United centre-back Chris Smalling when Juventus travel to the capital to face Roma on Saturday. Smalling, however, will not take part after picking up an injury last weekend and although he would prefer to be at the zoo instead of watching his team-mates, it’s likely that the two brits will find time for a quick word in the bowels of the Stadio Olimpico.
Being the comedian that he is, Chris is likely to tell Ramsey that he needs to be patient despite having lived in the peninsula for 18 months because; “Rome wasn’t built in a day.”
Oh, how we laughed.
Then he’s bound to tell him to go to the zoo and adopt as many animals as he can, immerse himself in the local culture (translation: put the fu****g PS5 down, m8) and stop relying on Cristiano Ronaldo giving him a lift everywhere.
Do: See the Siberian Tigers – they’re f**king ace!
Don’t: Feed the orangutans – they’ll only throw sh*t back.
RUSH TO THE RESCUE
Not only has former Wales striker Ian Rush experienced life first-hand at the Old Lady, he’s also experienced what it feels like to be frozen out of the dressing-room banter by team-mates who quite frankly reckon you’re a waste of space.
“Rushie,” nicknamed “Pinocchio” by the Juve squad during his time in Turin because of the size of his hooter, arrived at the Italian giants from Liverpool with a reputation for being a goal machine.
He couldn’t buy a goal in Serie A – which was strange at the time, as Italian football had only just revived itself after its first match-fixing scandal – most Juve fans wished that he would disappear back to Merseyside in a time machine.
Rush, who returned to Liverpool and started breaking records for fun, could advise Ramsey where he went wrong, though given he uttered the immortal line “It’s like living in a different country” when he moved to Juve, he might not be the greatest source of wisdom.
Do: Laugh along even though you haven’t a clue what the joke was.
Don’t: Stick around.
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