Can: No privileges at Juventus, even for Ronaldo

Emre Can has labelled Juventus a “family club”, and insists that there is no special treatment afforded to the Serie A champions’ star man Cristiano Ronaldo.

Can, like Ronaldo, joined Juve in the close-season, having signed on a free transfer from Liverpool.

The Germany midfielder has established himself as a first-team regular under Massimiliano Allegri, though his arrival in Turin was always going to be overshadowed by that of Ronaldo, who is Juve’s top scorer with 19 league goals from 24 appearances.

But Can, who compared the atmosphere at Juve to that of his former club Liverpool, has revealed that Ronaldo is not the recipient of any extra privileges.

“A family. It’s a family club, really,” Can told Tuttosport.

“And in this I found many similarities with Liverpool, where the spirit of the dressing room is similar. 

“Yes, I really like Juventus. Individualities count much less than the group. It is not common, in the national team I often talk with the players of other big clubs and they tell me very different things.

@SerieA top goalscorer (19)
Most league assists (8)
@Cristiano (CR7) #CR7JUVE #ForzaJuve pic.twitter.com/prKnya0UaT

— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) February 16, 2019

“Ronaldo is here, the biggest in the world, but in the locker room he is the same as the others and behaves naturally. 

“Everyone is at the same level, there are no privileges, we work, then we make jokes. This affects work, because you enter the field to always train with the right mood.”

Ronaldo scored twice on Friday, as Juve beat Frosinone 3-0 to extend their lead at the top of Serie A, with focus now turned to Wednesday’s Champions League last 16 tie with Atletico Madrid.