Disappointing Joao Mario is far from first choice at Juventus

Joao Mario was meant to be the hard-running wing-back for Juventus worth the sacrifice of Alberto Costa to FC Porto, but Igor Tudor is far from happy with the exchange.

With what we have seen so far this season, the player shows no signs of breaking into the first team, even when there is a shortage of other alternatives.

We saw once again away to Real Madrid that Tudor preferred Pierre Kalulu for that flank, where he was able to contain the forays of his opponents, but is inevitably less effective going forward to create scoring opportunities.

Joao Mario has been given just under 300 minutes of football so far this season, and dropped off the radar entirely in recent games, while Kalulu has surged in various different roles.

The fact is that Tudor would gladly have kept hold of Alberto Costa, instead he was forced to sell for Joao Mario, and is showing how unconvinced he is by that swap.

It’s early to say, but so far Juventus have been on the losing end of that deal.