‘Conte defended me from Marotta’
The 2006 Italy World Cup winner revealed how Antonio Conte defended him from Beppe Marotta during his time in Turin: “Conte thought the world of me. When he arrived he told me that he counted on me and that I needed to recover from my injury quickly. One day, however, he told me that I wasn’t part of Marotta’s plans anymore and that he’d have spoken with the club to sort things out.”
“After the knee surgery in 2011 my body couldn’t handle it anymore. When I was fit again my muscles just collapsed and that’s why I had many muscle injuries. Conte supported me every day but when returned from the loan spell at Cesena I got injured again and the club left me out of the squad for the entire season.”