Salas Fears No-One At Juve
Thursday 23rd August 2001
Chile striker Marcelo Salas claims he will relish competing with Alessandro Del Piero and David Trezeguet for a first-team spot at Juventus.
Salas, whose on-off transfer from Lazio went through on Wednesday after he passed a medical and accepted a deal that ensured him a �600,000 a year pay rise, believes less competition for places is no guarantee of first-team football.
"I might have more of a chance as Hernan Crespo, Claudio Lopez and Simone Inzaghi all play at Lazio but that doesn't mean to say I will immediately get into the Juve team.
"I'm not one of those players who gets complacent because they know there's no-one competing with them - that's negative," he said. "Wherever I go, I'd have to fight for my place and that's a positive."
The 26-year-old, who went to the Turin giants for �8 million plus Darko Kovacevic, bears no grudge against Lazio boss Dino Zoff for making it clear he would have been behind Hernan Crespo in the pecking order at the Stadio Olimpico.
"Crespo is his No 1 striker because he deserves to be as he played a great season last term and scored goals," he said.
The Chilean was delighted to finally complete the move after months of uncertainty over his future."Of course, it affected me," he said. "It wasn't a comfortable situation to be in and it's normal to be anxious.
"You want to be sure about where you're going to play the coming season as that's the way you can concentrate, train and play in a good frame of mind."
Salas believes that Lazio's transfer dealings over the summer are within the nature of the club. "A high turnover of players is a Lazio trait. The board tend to sell big and to buy big.
"It happened last year with Matias Almeyda and Sergio Conceicao. Now the club have let go of Pavel Nedved and Juan Sebastian Veron, which means that the whole midfield has gone. But Gaizka Mendieta and Stefano Fiore were bought and it's a formula that has worked so far."
Salas then signalled his intentions for the season, making the Champions' League a priority. Juventus have been drawn with Celtic, Rosenborg and Porto in Group E.
"The Champions' League is very important," he said. "I'd like to play in it and to win it - that would be a dream. It's the most prestigious competition apart from the World Cup."
Longer term, the Chile international just wants to keep on playing football. "I intend to continue for as long as possible. I hope to play in Italy for another four or five years, until I'm 30 or 31.
"I'd like to play for River Plate again when I return to South America and re-live everything I did when I was there before. If things go well, I'd like to then go to Universidad de Chile."
