Lopetegui tells Juventus what to expect from En-Nesyri: ‘Quiet but aggressive’

Julen Lopetegui has told Juventus supporters what to expect from his former Sevilla colleague Youssef En-Nesyri, who looks set to join the Bianconeri on loan with an option to buy from Fenerbahce in January: ‘He’s quiet, poised, a very good person, very reserved and very religious’.

According to reports at the beginning of the weekend, Juventus have agreements in place with both Fenerbahce and En-Nesyri himself, and that sporting director Marco Ottolini is hoping to bring the Moroccan over to Italy for a medical at the start of next week. 

Juventus are expected to pay between €3m-€5m for the loan deal and will have an option to buy clause set at €17m for the summer. 

Few coaches know En-Nesyri better than Lopetegui, who brought him to Sevilla from Leganes in 2020. The Morocco international would go on to win the Europa League title later on that season. He also recorded an impressive 73 goals across all competitions during his four-and-a-half years with Sevilla. 

“For me, excellent,” Lopetegui said in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport when asked if he thinks Juventus have picked up a good deal with Fenerbahce. 

“His margin for growth, his technical and personal characteristics will help him adapt to Italian football. He also has a lot of quality,” Lopetegui added. 

Lopetegui went on to give an overview of his time working with En-Nesyri at Sevilla. 

“We took him from Leganes. We were a very aggressive team without the ball. We pressed high and he seemed perfect because he had beastly pace and intensity. We weren’t wrong and we found a lot of other qualities as well. He’s an aggressive striker who works a lot for the team. 

“He proved to be perfect for our way of applying pressure in the final third. And then, when it comes to his aerial game, he has this precise timing. He attacks the ball in a courageous and powerful way when the crosses come in from the wings. 

“It should also be added that he’s very fast, which can be exploited in transitions.”

Lopetegui also gave En-Nesyri a glowing character reference: “He’s quiet, poised, a very good person, very reserved and very religious. He respects his worship to the letter of the law. You have to be very respectful with him in that sense. 

“I relied on Bounou, the Moroccan goalkeeper, to communicate with Youssef in the best possible way and to try and get through to him. Yassine was a bit like a father to him, and helped me with him a lot. 

“But I’m talking about six years ago, he was 22 at the time. After a lot of years with Sevilla, Fenerbahce and Morocco, we’re talking about a different person in terms of maturity and his football.” 

Lopetegui believes that Juventus and Serie A will be a perfect fit for En-Nesyri. 

“Italy is better than Turkey for him. First of all because of the language: He speaks Spanish and will be able to understand everything, and for a quieter guy like him, that will be important. 

“Naturally, Juventus isn’t just any old club, and there will be a lot of expectations on him.” 

Lopetegui also feels that Luciano Spalletti will be a good fit for En-Nesyri at Juventus. 

“I’m very fond of Youssef and I always wish the best for him. Spalletti will know which buttons to press to help him grow further. 

“We have to see how he will react to a high level of demand, there’s no comparison to how it was in Turkey. For me, he has a strong enough backbone to deal with the pressure, he can do it, but the final answer will be given on the pitch.”