Belgian defender Timothy Castagne has revealed he chose Fulham over Juventus last summer after being convinced by Marco Silva.
The full-back has been speaking to Het Belang van Limburg, where he revealed the reasoning behind his decision last summer.
He joined Fulham in a €13m deal from relegated Leicester in the summer transfer window, having decided to leave the Foxes following their drop into the Championship.
He had been with Leicester for three years following a €20.9m move from Atalanta in September 2020, establishing himself as the first choice right-back at the club as Ricardo Pereira struggled through several long-term injuries.
He was a part of the side that won the FA Cup in 2020/21 but was unable to keep them up last season and elected to depart in the summer.
He had suitors around Europe, with several sides in the Premier League and outside of it keen on a deal for him, including Italian giants Juventus.
That never came to fruition though and he ended up at Fulham instead, where he’s established himself as first-choice at right back this season and been a regular in the team.
On the face of it, choosing Fulham over Juventus is not a choice many players would make, but Castagne insists he was convinced by Silva’s pitch to him.
“We often talked with Juventus, but it never became concrete,” he said.
“They also didn’t have enough money at that time. Plus, after speaking to the coach here and hearing how Fulham wanted to play, I liked it. The players are better in England.
“I had the most work with Luis Diaz from Liverpool and Mitoma from Brighton. But it is tactically a little less strict here, which sometimes means there is more space. Italy is much more tactics based.”
