Chiellini: ‘Juventus and Kenan Yildiz want to continue together’

Giorgio Chiellini had experienced Fiorentina vs. Juventus for both teams and ‘knows what it means,’ but assures there is no rush over the Kenan Yildiz contract.

It kicks off at the Stadio Artemio Franchi at 17.00 GMT.

You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens from today’s four Serie A games on the Liveblog.

Chiellini came up through the Viola youth academy and played in this fixture for both teams, able to bridge the bitter rivalry between them.

“It is different experiencing it as a director, I played for both Fiorentina and Juventus in this game, so I know what it means to both sets of fans, and how difficult it can be,” Chiellini told DAZN Italia.

It has been a very rough start to the campaign for both these teams, in Serie A and European football, firing coaches Stefano Pioli and Igor Tudor this month to bring in Paolo Vanoli and Luciano Spalletti respectively.

“We expect a lot from Spalletti, what he has always done in his teams. He had a little time to work over the last two weeks, as we had 7-8 players who didn’t go on international duty, and 3-4 training sessions with the full squad. He is increasingly able to make his stamp on the team and we’re pleased, but we must do the talking on the pitch.

“I also know Vanoli well and he will bring positive energy to Fiorentina, but we know a result here would be an important signal for our season.”

Juve have Lloyd Kelly back in defence today, but are also seemingly maintaining Teun Koopmeiners in that new role in the back three.

Dusan Vlahovic starts with Kenan Yildiz upfront, two players at the centre of seemingly endless contract and transfer speculation.

“There has been a lot of talk, but Kenan has three and a half years on his contract, we want to continue together,” assured Chiellini.

“Damien Comolli already talked about the Vlahovic situation that we will continue for this season. They are two important players, we expect a lot from them both this evening and throughout the campaign.”