After knocking out the reigning European champions of Real Madrid, Ajax prepare to face another tough challenge in their Champions League campaign. The Dutch side will in fact host Juventus on Wednesday night in the first leg of the European competition's quarter final match-up. While Cristiano Ronaldo remains a doubt for the Bianconeri, there's no uncertainty about who will play on Ajax's left defensive side: Nicolas Tagliafico.
The Argentinian's agents, Ricardo Schlieper, discussed the upcoming game : "It will be a very tough game, Ronaldo is one of the best players in the world together with Messi. However, Ajax are not afraid of playing, they are in incredible form and they were up to the challenge with Bayern Munich and Reald Madrid, so why shouldn't they be against Juventus?".
Schlieper was also asked about Nicolas's personality and his plans for the future: "He is different from many other players. He is one of the smartest players I have worked with, he always puts the football side ahead of the financial one. He has a great work ethic. The win against real MAdrid at the Santiago Bernabeu was definitely one of the most special game of his career. His future? He believes that the time has come to try a new experience in a different league. He wants to keep improving and I already turned down a significant contract extension. There are several teams that made enquiries for him, especially teams that will play in next season's Champions League, but it's too soon to say where he will play next season. Ajax want a significant amount of money for him, and that willd efinitely scare some clubs off, but we have to take into account that Nicolas is playing a sensational season, in the league as well as in Europe. And he is also the captain of the Argentinian national team when Messi is not there. Before he went to Ajax we discussed a possible transfer to Parma and Bologna with Giovanni and Giacomo Branchini".
Finally, the agent revealed the role he played in the Argentinian legend Javier Zanetti's transfer to Inter in 1995: "Inter came to Argentina to sign Jvaier, but then they signed also Rambert from Independiente. We closed the Rambert deal in 24 hours, whil it took us two months to finalise Zanetti's one".
