Dusan Vlahovic has been told he made the wrong decision to choose a transfer to Juventus over Arsenal this January.
The Serbia international has established himself as a world class performer in his time in Serie A, and it would have been a joy to see him make the move to the Emirates Stadium.
Vlahovic, perhaps unsurprisingly, opted to move to Juventus, who are a traditionally bigger club and who have been dominant in Italian football for much of the last decade.
However, former Italy star Antonio Cassano believes Vlahovic made the wrong move, saying the 21-year-old shouldn’t have made such a big move up in his career straight away, with the pressure likely to be really tough at Juve.
“Juventus will not change with [Massimiliano] Allegri, neither next year nor in ten years,” Cassano told Bobo TV, as translated by the Metro.
“In my opinion [Vlahovic’s decision] is sensationally wrong. For the type of player I think he is he needed to make an intermediate step to a team like Arsenal, Tottenham, or Sevilla, who signed [Anthony] Martial. For me, you know, he has always been a second-tier player.
“This is a huge step for him, playing with Fiorentina is another thing.
“For him it is a very important step, but above all it’s risky. For Juve it is not enough to do what you did at Fiorentina.
“It’s not enough to score 15 goals, 20 goals. At Juve, every match must be decisive. It’s a dangerous weight on him.
“He had to take the next step, but not two steps, at Juve you have to score at least 30 goals per season and you have to take home the performances and titles.
“I don’t see him as a player for Juve. He is a Serbian, a particular character, I don’t see him fitting in well with Juve’s dressing room, that’s the opinion I have.”
It will be interesting to see if this is proven right, with Arsenal fans likely to be keen on keeping an eye on Vlahovic’s progress, as there may well be a chance of a move again in the future if the youngster doesn’t make a strong start to life in Turin.