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Time for Asamoah to say goodbye to Juventus

Allsports editor Godfred Akoto Boafo opines the time is right for Asamoah to leave

 

Juventus are currently in Poland as they plot towards an uncertain season with a team in transition. The brains of the team that won the league and lost  Champions league final, Andrea Pirlo has departed for the MLS. The tenacity,drive and goals in the form of Carlos Tevez and Arturo Vidal have also departed to pursue romantic dreams with clubs they hold dear in Argentina and Germany respectively.

It is clear the extent of the repair work ahead of Massimiliano Allegri  and the club has spent significant resources in signing players like Mario Manduzkic, Sami Khedira Paulo Dybala to ease the pain of the departure of players who were central to the absolute dominance of the Bianconerri of the Serie A over the past four seasons.

That is why this pre-season is so important for all players who have been to Switzerland and now Poland. It is a blooding in process,the development of new tactical ideas and a strategy for new conquests. Absence is a bad omen.

Yet Ghana international Kwadwo Asamoah finds himself absent; training by himself under special supervision at the club’s Vinovo facility as he seeks to rebuild his fitness after making a return from injury. It is a good time to  reflect on a career that has underwhelmed at Juventus through no fault of his. Asamoah is at a cross roads and should be considering whether he stays for the season ahead or seek a start elsewhere.

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In my opinion the answer is a firm no.

Asamoah joined Juventus from Udinese, signed by now Italy boss Antonio Conte as an understudy to Andrea Pirlo in midfield and with good reason too. Alexis Sanchez might have carried all the plaudits of that impressive Udinese side but Asamoah was the brains and motor of the team and the move to Juventus for a hefty 17 million euros seemed a natural progression for the budding play maker

Unfortunately for him Pirlo’s fantastic form and Allegri’s need for a technical,left footed wing back saw Asamoah shunted into Conte’s now famous 3-5-2 formation and he has never been close to that position again. The presence of Vidal and Marchisio along with the emergence of Paul Pogba meant that he was no longer considered an option for any of the midfield positions and that situation is unlikely to change even with the departure of Vidal and Pirlo.

Kwadwo Asamoah is 26 and should be entering the best years of his career  yet this season will see him in competition to overtake 33 year old Patrice Evra in Juventus' backline.

The Ghana international makes for a competent defender  at his best yet could make the push  to world class if the opportunity to play in midfield presents itself. He is a brilliant dribbler at pace, has a superb football brain coupled with  a ferocious left foot that has rarely been unleashed in anger since he made his move to Juventus. If he were to become suddenly available,several top teams would not shy away from prising him away and it would not be to plug holes in the left of defence.

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When his time is over at Juventus he will not remembered as one of their greats. His tale will be that of the loyal, squad player who did his job quietly and went away.

That is not a good epilogue to Asamoah's tale. A player as magnificently gifted as him deserves a better storyline than that. The only way that happens is away from Juventus.

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