Giovanni Rossi has been Cagliari's sporting director for a long time but also an historic friend of the Sardinian's next opponent, Max Allegri: "It's been a few days we've been talking, we have a good relationship. It happens that we hear from each other every day but we can also not talk for a whole week. We don't talk a lot about football, we make a lot of jokes: try to say to Max that he's not well dressed and you'll see how he'd take it...", has told Rossi to Tuttosport. A great friend, but also a great coach: "Courage and squad management make him special from the others, alongside to that healthy craziness that brings him to read the game well".
Talking about his Cagliari, Rossi describes it as "sense of belonging. It's a unique location. To the Sardinian people, Cagliari's club is like a national team, the bound is really strong. We want to make our youngsters grow: Cossu, Sau or more recently, Barella and Deiola... There are a lot of interesting players". Not forgetting about Romagna though, for who "Juve do not have a rebuy clause, even if they were interested in the player", and Han Kwang-Son, loaned to Perugia that "controls the ball like a top player". Getting back to Barella, on a lot of clubs' wish lists, Rossi describes him as one that "respects the Sardinian mentality: he's proud, sensitive, stubborn and generous. It wouldn't surprise me if he'd leave abroad".
In the early days of his career, Rossi has worked for Juventus by Marotta and Paratici's sides, working on the youth sector: "Goretzka was 15, was playing for Bochum and was unknown for most people. It's true we were close, but he preferred to stay in Germany to finish school". Still talking about Juventus and German players, Rossi has talked about the hypothetical move of Emre Can: "It would be a great hit, it's hard to improve this Juve's squad but Emre Can would be one of these players that would raise the team's level up".
