Demiral: 'The best' Ronaldo helps me grow at Juve, we have best defenders

Merih Demiral vows to “fight for his place”, revealed his good relationship to Cristiano Ronaldo and said Juventus are the team with “the best defenders.”

The Turkish defender came to Juventus from Sassuolo after last season and has only played once in Serie A this season.

But the 21-year-old keeps on working hard to convince coach Maurizio Sarri to pick him.

“Juventus are one of the greatest teams in the world,” he told Fanatik. “A team with the best defenders of the past and present and, of course, it’s great to be here.

“Reaching this level was part of my plans, in the short, medium and long-term plans. But I didn’t think I would reach Juventus this quickly.

“My principle is to give 100 per cent during training sessions and matches. Thanks to this, I always feel at ease. Then the coach will decide and it’s not up to me to comment on his decisions. But I must emphasise that my goal is to always fight for my place.”

The lack of minutes has triggered reports to link him with a move away from the club, most recently to Milan. But he said he’s only focused on his own work.

“I focus on my work and my representatives will take care of the market,” he added. “I heard voices, just like you. But as I said, I try to give 100 per cent in every match and every training session. If I do, things are likely to be good for me.”

He said he was pleasantly surprised about the welcome he got at Juventus and is happy about the treatment he’s received by his colleagues at the club.

“What struck me the most was the fact that when I came to J Medical for my check, our captain [Giorgio] Chiellini came to see me, even if the team was on vacation.

“I was very pleased. When I first arrived, Emre Can helped me a lot to get to know the club. Mentally, Cristiano [Ronaldo] is always ready to help me.

He added that the superstar Ronaldo is a “warm person” and the former Sporting CP player revealed they speak in Portuguese together.

“He saw I spoke Portuguese with [Joao] Cancelo, when he was on his way to Manchester City, and he came to me and told me he was happy that I spoke Portuguese.

“Since then we have always spoken Portuguese. He’s a very warm person. He’s teaching me new Portuguese words. He’s helping me figure out what to do on the pitch. He warns me if I do something wrong.

“I think Ronaldo is the best in the world. This is my chance to be in the same team as him."

Turkey will play Italy in the group stage of Euro 2020 and Merih is looking forward to the match.

“Italy are a strong team,” he added. “They demonstrated this by not losing any games in the group stage.

“The opening match of the tournament will be between Italy and Turkey and for me that was a nice surprise. As we always do, we will do our best.

“I know their players; Chiellini came up to me in the dressing room and told me: ‘We are better than you.’ I turned to [Blaise] Matuidi and said: ‘We have beaten the world champions.’ Then Matuidi concluded: ‘But France ended first in the group.’ We all laughed together. I love this fun part of the sport.”