Juventus announced the surprise signing of Real Madrid star Arda Guler on Monday, only for the Serie A giants to quickly backtrack after their Twitter account was hacked.
Madrid paid £17million to sign Guler from Fenerbahçe in the summer of 2023, but it took six months for him to make his debut. A succession of injuries stunted his progress at the Bernabeu.
But the 19-year-old did become one of the breakout stars of Euro 2024, scoring a stunning long-range effort against Georgia in his Turkey side's opening game. He started all but one match as they reached the quarter-finals.
While he would have hoped to carry that form into the new season, it has again been a tough campaign. Guler has earned just three starts for Carlo Ancelotti's Galaticos and is yet to notch a goal or an assist.
Despite those struggles, fans were caught by surprise when Juventus posted: “Welcome to Juventus, Arda Guler!” on its English Twitter account, alongside a picture of the 19-year-old appearing to arrive at an airport and walking on a runway.
But the Italian side quickly backtracked, confirming their English account had been hacked. A statement read: “Our Juventus English account has been compromised. Please ignore the false information being published on this account. We are working on the issue.”
Guler was an unused substitute for the third time this season in Madrid’s win at Celta Vigo on Saturday, with Ancelloti having the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr, Jude Bellingham, Rodrygo and Endrick to select from in his forward positions.
But the Italian boss has insisted he is happy with the 19-year-old's progress this term. Ancelotti did admit though that the competition for places is making life difficult for Guler.
He said: “We are at Real Madrid and the competition is high, it's not easy to find a place in the XI. I think he is having more protagonism than last season. We trust Arda."
Juve meanwhile have made an encouraging start under new boss Thiago Motta. They are unbeaten in Serie A and sit third, with Motta demanding progress as his side prepare to host Stuttgart in the Champions League.
"Tomorrow we have to play a complete game, Stuttgart are good with the ball and when they regroup it becomes difficult to penetrate their defence, they have a way of understanding football that I like, but these are the most beautiful games to play," he said.
"We must continue to improve in all aspects, both in terms of the game and mentally: we must be humble and only think about the next game, having the right attitude and wanting to do things together, as a team, in the right way."
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it's will Rodrigo