Former Juventus player and Italian football icon Giorgio Chiellini has revealed a memorable episode from the start of his career. At the age of 16, he received an offer from Arsenal, but chose to turn it down, a decision he regards in retrospect as a ‘mistake’.
‘I was stupid enough to turn down an offer from Arsenal’ Chiellini admitted in an interview with Overlap. ‘It was an excellent offer and the club was sure I would accept. However, I didn’t want to leave my local club without them benefiting from the transfer. I told my agent: ‘I’ll sign a new contract and if there’s an agreement with Arsenal, I’ll leave. But not like that.
But the deal didn’t go through because the club demanded what they considered to be a hefty sum. Chiellini, who was playing in Serie C at the time, went back on his decision: ‘If it were my son in that situation, I’d tell him to get his things and leave. In the end, it worked out well for me, but at the time it was the wrong decision.
That experience, though full of regrets, marked the start of a legendary career that has seen him achieve great things with Juventus and the Italian national team.