As Gigi Buffon announced his decision to leave Juventus, it was naturally assumed that Wojciech Szczęsny would be the man to replace him. After all, the former Arsenal man arrived in Turin little over a year ago following a stellar 2016/17 campaign with AS Roma, establishing himself as argua-bly the best goalkeeper in Serie A that season. In accepting a backup role with the Bianconeri, the Poland international was clearly playing the long game, knowing he would be ideally placed to step up once the iconic Italian retired.
Indeed, in an interview with this writer shortly after his €12.2 million transfer was sealed, Szczesny admitted that it was a decision that would shape his future as a player. “I imagined that joining Juve could hurt my chances of playing at the 2018 World Cup,” he said. “But I couldn’t make that choice based on what might happen in one month this summer, I had to be honest with myself and think about the next ten years of my career.”
However, Juventus have a long-standing tradition of being the home of Italy’s number one, some-thing they seem determined to continue as news of a move for Mattia Perin surfaced late last week. On Friday morning, the 25-year-old arrived for his medical and put pen to paper on a four-year contract as the Old Lady handed Genoa a sum of €12 million with a further €3 million in poten-tial bonuses.
He will likely start out next term as Szczesny’s deputy, with the presence of the latter preventing Perin from being judged as “THE MAN WHO REPLACED GIGI BUFFON.” Removing that pres-sure should allow the new signing time to adapt to life at Juve, a high-pressure environment that is a different world from anything he has experienced thus far in his career.
Hailing from Latina in the Lazio region, Perin’s journey to such a prestigious role has little in com-mon with the meteoric rise of Buffon at Parma or indeed Gianluigi Donnarumma at AC Milan. He has not received the level of attention generated by that duo’s teenage debuts in the top flight – not to mention the latter’s well-publicised contract negotiations via his agent Mino Raiola – until now playing in the relative obscurity of Italy’s provincial clubs.
He began in the youth sector of Tuscan club Pistoiese before joining Genoa at the age of 16. Help-ing them to win the Primavera (Under-19) national title in June 2010, Perin would make his debut for the first team the following year before spending the 2011/12 season on loan at Padova. Despite narrowly missing out on a playoff berth, he was named Serie B Goalkeeper of the Year before moving on to join Pescara.
The Delfini were utterly devoid of talent and finished rock bottom in Serie A, yet Perin still im-pressed, never more so than in a 2-0 win away to Fiorentina where he made a staggering 15 saves to deny La Viola. He did enough to convince Genoa he was ready to return in the summer of 2013 and he has been their first-choice goalkeeper ever since, now boasting 178 top flight appearances and two caps for Italy.
His positioning and footwork are vastly superior to Donnarumma’s as, standing three inches shorter, Perin can ill afford to find himself in the wrong place, lacking the height and reach to make up for such an error as the Milan man so often can. The Genoa no.1 has also learned to cope with set backs, shrugging off goals he concedes and concentrating on the next save he is required to make.
Despite the Grifone finishing in 12th-place last term, only four players kept more clean sheers than Perin’s tally of 12, yet unlike those above him – Pepe Reina (Napoli), Samir Handanovic (Inter), Alisson (AS Roma) and Marco Sportiello (Fiorentina) – he was not protected by a good defence. That fact is reinforced by noting that only three goalkeepers managed more saves than his tally of 127, and the those above him were all involved in the relegation battle until the final week of the campaign.
His performances have won him many admirers, with World Cup winning goalkeeper Dino Zoff ar-guably chief among them. “I consider him to be the best Italian in his role and that’s not just at club level, but also for the Nazionale,” the legendary stopper told Italian newspaper Il Mattino earlier this year. “Perin is hot property on the market because he really represents the Italian school of goal-keeping. He is a classic Number 1 who keeps out goals and has good passing technique too.”
High praise indeed, but it is certainly warranted given not only his performances for Genoa but the fact he has battled back from two torn ACLs and returned to his previous excellent form. Fully aware that he faces a real battle to both displace Szczesny and win the trust of Max Allegri, the man himself believes his struggles have steeled him perfectly for what lies ahead.
“I have a lot of enthusiasm, I come here on tip-toes with the utmost humility and a lot to learn, but hope I can give the team a helping hand and contribute to the cause when called upon,” Perin told the club’s official website as the deal was announced. “They showed strong interest and when they contacted my agent, I couldn’t help but say yes. These are chances that pass by only once in life and I couldn’t say no to Juventus.”
“I feel ready. I went through some difficult times that made me find a certain balance within myself, to grow and become a man. I think I arrive here at the right age.”
Next season will show true that is, but Juventus once again have a promising Italian goalkeeper ready to step up and show he deserves a number one shirt previously worn by Dino Zoff, Stefano Tacconi and of course Gigi Buffon. It’s Mattia Perin’s turn now.
