Leonardo Cerri he now plays for Carrarese on loan, but the club that owns his card is there Juventus. The attacker played for the Next Gen, but in the past he made his debut with the Vecchia Signora shirt also in Serie A and the memory of those times remains indelible, as he explains to Changing Room Chronicles: “My first photo on Instagram is of a bull among the applause of Cristiano Ronaldo. It was taken in the first real training session with the first team. It was in my U17 days: sometimes they would call you to apply some pressure, but not a real session. That day there were 7-8 guys, but then me and another teammate were called: ‘Come, today you are training with the first team’. I’m honest: when I found myself in the bull or do some attacking action with him, my legs were shaking. Finding myself at that age training and exchanging the ball with one of the best in history is a nice emotional blow.”
In that Juventus team there were players of the caliber of Ronaldo, Buffon, Bonucci, Chiellini and Higuain.
“I was little, I never managed to talk too much with them. But every time I could train with them I tried to steal with my eyes: there were people like Higuain, Mandzukic, CR7. I just had to sit on the sidelines and watch them to learn millions of things in just one hour of training.”
Then he put on the black and white shirt in December 2022 in a friendly against Arsenal at the Emirates.
“It was my first real match with Juve. I didn’t feel much pressure because it was a friendly match, but the whole time I thought: ‘It’s an opportunity. Play it as best you can’.”
Tell us about your arrival at Juventus.
“I tell you the truth: the first day I set foot in the Juventus world, I felt like a fish out of water. I was aware of my abilities, but arriving in a club like this and finding teammates like Miretti or Soule is all another thing. I felt out of context for everything: organisation, structures, quality.
Why did you choose Juventus?
“Initially I was torn because there were so many teams, but everything changed the day Juventus invited me to see the facilities. When I left, I sat in the car next to my mother and told her: ‘This it’s my place.”
On 12 February 2024 he made his Serie A debut with Juventus.
“I remember everything about that day: I think that debuting in Serie A is the dream of any child who plays football. Udinese had scored immediately and we couldn’t get back into the match. Vlahovic and Kean were out due to injury, there was only Milik on the pitch, so during the 2nd half the idea began to pass through my head: ‘Now he’s sending me to warm up mister sent us all to warm up in rotation. I was on the sidelines, talking to Guerra – a former teammate – and while I was warming up they called Iling. But there was a lot of noise, we couldn’t hear anything and so, partly due to the excitement and a bit out of emotion, I ask: ‘Me?’ And Landucci says: ‘No, no Iling’. I said: ‘Ah, okay’ he starts calling someone. I stay still, I didn’t want to make another fool of myself. Then to make myself understood, he makes the gesture: ‘It was me, of course.’ A thousand things started going through my head: ‘Damn, he called me now. They think he can come in and help out. The moment I entered the field, I disconnected my brain. I was super focused. It didn’t go as we hoped, but I will always carry that emotion with me. In training with Juventus, there were two players who always encouraged me: Danilo and Bremer. I found myself against them many times in training, they filled me with advice every time.”
How did you experience heart surgery?
“Very often during training I felt my heart rate increase particularly. I lost clarity, my vision became blurred, I felt more tired and fatigued. I remember that the doctors told me to stay calm. Then, shortly before the summer training camp in 2021, I I had Covid. It was my 2nd year of Spring. Once I got over the virus, in the classic medical visits, the doctors saw that the situation had worsened. They stopped me immediately: ‘You have to have surgery’ going through a heart operation, you can’t stay calm. I had all the guarantees from the doctors and I was able to calm down I stopped for 2-3 months to resolve this arrhythmia. I remember counting down the days.”
How important was it to play in Serie C?
“The U23 step is fundamental. There is too much difference between the Primavera and the A or B championships. For me it is too big a gap. Playing in Serie C, with expert people, who have eaten a lot of football, and where the “The intensity is very high, it helps you on a physical and mental level. Then we had a very strong team: I don’t think it was that easy for the coach to make the training. The Juventus U23s have a very high level.”