Chiesa: ‘I never wanted to leave Juventus – Giuntoli and Motta told me they didn’t need me’

Federico Chiesa has revealed the painful truth behind his Juventus departure, insisting he never pushed to leave the club and that a contract renewal was never even discussed, contradicting the narrative that money was the reason the relationship broke down.

Speaking to Gazzetta dello Sport, via TuttoMercatoWeb, the Italy international was unambiguous about his feelings for the Bianconeri.

“Juventus is always in my heart and I would like to return,” he said. “I never spoke about money with Juventus and I never will.”

The revelation that no renewal offer was ever made will raise eyebrows given how the situation was publicly portrayed at the time.

Chiesa was one of Juventus’s most important players before his serious knee injury, and the suggestion that Giuntoli and Thiago Motta simply moved him on without discussion paints a stark picture of how quickly the club’s plans evolved without him.

“I would have liked to stay in black and white,” Chiesa said.

“I never would have left on my own. It was also said that I was demanding a lot of money, but the truth is different, I was never offered a renewal. We never even spoke about it. Giuntoli and Thiago Motta told me: ‘Fede, we don’t need you – find yourself a club.’ Things went well for me, I restarted at one of the top five clubs in the world in Liverpool.”

Despite the abrupt manner of his exit, Chiesa retains genuine warmth for the club and does not rule out a future return.

His comments about Kenan Yildiz, with whom he trained before his Liverpool move, were generous. “We noticed his talent after the very first training sessions,” he said. “Now it is his turn. He can become a top player. He wears the number 10 well, but I also saw it on the shoulders of Dybala.”

The reference to Dybala is loaded with meaning, a subtle reminder that great number tens do not always get the recognition they deserve at Juventus until they are gone.