Yahoo News The 'brave' Juventus star who rejected Bayern and PSG but is 'keen' on Aston Villa transfer
Samuel Iling-Junior is keen to join Aston Villa as the Premier League club continues talks with Juventus over a transfer for Douglas Luiz which could also include Weston McKennie plus cash.
Villa may need to offload Luiz because of Profit and Sustainability Rules and are seeking a big fee plus the Juventus players. The Brazilian midfielder is currently away on international duty ahead of the Copa America, but Villa might not be in a position to wait around to raise funds while Unai Emery wants to recruit players as soon as possible.
McKennie made 34 Serie A appearances last season, while Iling-Junior featured 24 times, including in 20 of the club's last 24 league matches as the Old Lady finished third and qualified for the Champions League. Both players also played the full 90 minutes of the Coppa Italia final against Atalanta, which Juve won 1-0.
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Villa fans will be aware of McKennie after his short loan spell at Leeds, but while he didn't set the world alight at Elland Road, he rediscovered form last term at Juve. As for Iling-Junior, he continued to show exciting signs of progress under Max Allegri.
The left-sided player was wanted by Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain at the age of 16 when he reached his decision to leave Chelsea and leave the Premier League back in 2020. After opting for Juve, Iling-Junior made his first-team breakthrough last season and became only the third English player to score in Serie A for the Italian giants.
"After the move to Italy, players like Fikayo Tomori and Tammy Abraham, who had made similar moves from Chelsea to Italy, contacted me to make sure I was doing well," Iling-Junior told England football. "I obviously knew them through Chelsea when I was in the academy and Tammy actually bought me a burger after a game once when I was about ten or 11!
"Seeing other English players go abroad and succeed definitely helped make the decision easier. It was just a case of showing that fearlessness and the belief in your ability to go abroad and still show what you can do."
He made his England Under-21 debut in September and also featured in the same side as Morgan Rogers in March in emphatic wins over Azerbaijan and Luxembourg. The 20-year-old played as a left winger in the win over Azerbaijan and then scored two goals from left-back against Luxembourg.
His versatility led to him being deployed as a wing-back by Allegri last season and he is comfortable playing a number of positions.
"I would play every position growing up," Iling-Junior continued. "I started off as a centre half because I was always the tallest but would always score long-range goals when I was around the edge of the box. So around the age of 11 or 12, it changed and moved to the more attacking positions. I went to centre midfield and then left-back and moved up to the wing, playing as a number ten and a striker.
"Now I generally play around the front four and would say my best position is probably as a number ten or on the wing. My priority from then until now was to always enjoy my football. That is the first thing on my mind."
After being promoted to the first-team the season before last, Iling-Junior made his Champions League debut against Benfica and provided a brilliant cross for an Arkadiusz Milik volley just five minutes following his introduction. He then put in another cross which caused havoc in the penalty area that McKennie scored.
Iling-Junior has stayed in touch with his former Chelsea under-10s coach Saul Isaksson-Hurst to do some extra private training through his My Football Coach business. Isaksson-Hurst also has Noni Madueke and Folarin Balogun on his client list.
Iling-Junior spoke to Isaksson-Hurst a year after he had joined Juventus. “He said he wanted to do some extra work when he was back in England for the summer," the coach told the Guardian. It went really well so every off season we get some work in before he goes back in.
“I remember when he went over to Juventus it was a big decision but he thought he would get more opportunities. It’s very brave to go overseas on your own but Samuel’s a really nice young man – very polite, a good family and no ego. So it’s nice to see him reaping the benefits.
“He’s immersed himself in the culture – he speaks Italian and he loves the culture. Sam has had to be patient this season for his opportunity but he always works hard and is ready to learn.”
He was promoted to the first-team squad in December 2022 after making his Champions League debut against Benfica and provided a brilliant cross for an Arkadiusz Milik volley in a 4-3 defeat that was especially pleasing for Isaksson-Hurst.
Five minutes into his Champions League debut in Lisbon against Benfica, the forward set up a goal for Arkadiusz Milik. He then put in another cross which wrought so much havoc in the penalty area that Weston McKennie scored.
Iling-Junior is unpredictable in the final third and has a super physical presence on the wing. He is both powerful and agile, making him a problem for most defenders to deal with.
Speaking about his adaptation in Italy over the last few years, he told Telegraph: "I feel like it’s been difficult, I’ll be honest. It’s not how I saw the trajectory going. But if I look at it in hindsight it’s also helped me realise and take a step back. ‘OK, where can I go with this?’ It can go two ways. I can be upset or I can stay positive and continue training at a level and take my level to another level to try and see myself get more minutes.
“I feel like right now I am just focused on being here and giving it my all. In the summer we will see how it goes and we will see what’s best for me and the club because obviously I need to be playing. The club trusts me and I trust the club.”
Juventus were handed a one-year ban from European competitions by UEFA last season for breaches of club licensing and financial fair play. Iling-Junior desperately wants another taste of Champions League football, as he told The Athletic: “It made me feel like I want to be here all the time.
"This is where the big boys play. You can only get into the Champions League if you’re a good team, so you’re not playing against anyone that’s not good enough.”
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