Daniele Rugani has been linked with moves to the Premier League at multiple times throughout his career.
Given the competition in front of him at Juventus, it was always a struggle for the player to really breakthrough and make a central defensive place his own. Despite that, Rugani and those representing him often held off interest from English clubs, still wanting to eventually become an important player for the Turin club.
One of his Premier League opportunities came from Chelsea, when Maurizio Sarri was in charge at the London side and looking for a signing in defence. Again, the move failed, and the player’s agent has now been asked whether Rugani ever thinks about what could have been had he moved to Stamford Bridge.
In response, Davide Torchia told TuttoJuve: “There have been good occasions to go, even more than one, but the player’s prerogative has always been to want to do well at Juve. And, to be honest, there have been clubs that had strongly attracted him.
“From the point of view the club, having said that, they never thought of selling him, had it been someone else they would have agreed to earn more. When the club told us that there were many defenders present, last summer, we accepted the idea of going to loan to Rennes and Cagliari. In France he was unlucky due to that injury, in Sardinia he managed to win a salvation together with the team to write in the history books. The balance was positive: twelve appearances as a starter, one decisive goal against Bologna.”
Rugani is now back at Juventus, and until recently it looked like he’d be watching the vast majority of Serie A matches from the bench. However, he’s played the last four matches in the competition, and will hope that finally, at 27-years-of-age, he can become an important player in Turin.
Should he succeed in that aim, then any Chelsea regrets will likely become smaller.
