Czech Prodigy Signs Five-Year Juventus Deal
Saturday 14th July 2001
Czech Republic Under-20 striker Jaroslav Sedivec has confirmed that he signed a five-year contract with Juventus at the same time as his compatriot Pavel Nedved last week.
The youngster accompanied his senior international captain Nedved on Juventus' private jet which flew from Prague to Turin last Wednesday.
Sedivec plays his league football for Viktoria Plzen, who were relegated from the Czech first division at the end of last season. Plzen was also Pavel Nedved's first professional club in the Czech Republic.
Sedivec was told that he was flying to Turin a couple of after he returned from the World Youth Championships in Argentina by Viktoria director Jaromir Seterle.
"At first I thought he was having me on, but he quickly put me right on that score," Sedivec admitted. "He said that I was to fly to Turin with Pavel Nedved and his manager Zdenek Nehoda. So I flew with Nedved, who was also accompanied by his whole family.
"When we arrived the first thing we did was to look at some houses with gardens for the Nedveds. Then we checked into the hotel where Juventus are staying during their pre-season training and it was only there that I found out how they had heard of me.
"The Italian agents that work with Juventus had spotted me in the league games they had seen in Plzen. And they were also at the recent World Youth Championships in Argentina."
After undergoing a medical, Sedivec signed a five-year deal with the Turin giants. But despite signing, he will not hit the big time straight away, and will spend at least the next six months on loan at Viktoria Plzen.
"At Prague airport I returned to reality. I went straight from the airport to Plzen's training camp. The main thing now is that I have to catch up the training I missed and make sure I'm properly ready for the Czech second division."
