Football
Ben Gladwell, Italy correspondent 9y

Andrea Pirlo explains Juventus exit and move to New York City FC

Andrea Pirlo admits the fear of no longer being the star of Juventus was one of the reasons why he moved to New York City FC, having made up his mind to join Major League Soccer several months before the end of last season.

In his first interview since making the move across the Atlantic, the 36-year-old told La Gazzetta dello Sport that he has long since been a fan of MLS, and New York in particular.

Once he started to feel he might no longer be a key player for the Bianconeri, he knew where he wanted to end his career.

"I didn't need to speak to [Sebastian] Giovinco or anybody else, I decided and that was that," Pirlo said. "I never had any doubts. I wanted MLS. I'd followed it on TV and I liked it. And being able to play in New York did the rest. I don't know if I would have accepted an offer from any other city."

That decision came around the turn of the year. Although still a regular in the Juve midfield, something no longer felt right.

"I'm certain I would still have played regularly, but the idea of not being sure that I was the absolute protagonist of the side did start to burden me," he added. "Maybe I would no longer have felt good about myself. I preferred to make my own mind up before somebody else could have sent me away."

That decision was taken before June's Champions League final. Pirlo had hoped to go out on a high with victory over Barcelona in Berlin and failure to lift that trophy did cause some confusion.

"Certainly losing did make me reflect a bit more," he admitted. "It was always going to be hard for me to play in such important matches again and, after winning four titles in a row, this was the right time for me to go."

He leaves behind a Juve side he still sees fit to win the Scudetto for a fifth year in a row. "They have a new and different squad now," Pirlo said.

"The club are doing the best they can because some older players have left, including myself, but they have signed some youngsters, which proves that they have a serious, long-term project.

He added: "It's hard to say whether the gap to the competition has reduced because it's a strange league. Certainly the other clubs have strengthened too, but I still think that Juve are the strongest and they are the favourites."

That is no longer Pirlo's concern, though. "I'm now here to be part of a big project," he said.

"This is a big challenge -- and I like challenges. It's back to square one -- this club did not exist six months ago. It's a bit like when I arrived at Juve; we were at square one with them too.

"I had four fantastic seasons there, finding a winning group of players and getting some amazing results."

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