Ignacio Pussetto is raring to get stuck into the new season as he nears a return to full fitness following his knee injury at the turn of the year.
“I feel good and I've been training a lot,” the 25-year-old told Udinese Tonight. “I came back early to work on my fitness and I hope to be ready when the others come back.
“I can't wait for the new season to start so I can be with my team-mates again. I went back to Argentina in June to spend some time with my family – I hadn't seen them for two years. I came back a few days before the rest of the team so that I could start training alone to get ready for the new season.
“I knew about Udinese because of the Argentine players who have played here and [Nestor] Sensini especially – he was a coach of mine.”
The Argentine forward went on to talk about a whole range of subjects.
On last season
"I felt good last season. I'd been training well and I felt really good in matches. The coach trusted me and I hadn't played so many games back to back for a long time. Unfortunately that all ended with I got injured but now I can't wait to get back out there."
On Gotti
“I hit it off with [Luca] Gotti right from the start. He believed in me and told me I would have an important part to play in his team as long as I kept training well. When I left he was very frank with me: he told me to stay at Udinese because I would become an important player for the team. However, during that period there were things going on with my family and I needed a change of scenery. Now I'm happy again with him. He's been so good to me and I'm glad he's our coach again this season. I've learnt a lot from him and I'm grateful to him.”
On tactics
“I have more in freedom in a 3-5-2. I'd never played in that position before. When I came here, [Davide] Nicola was the first to use that formation. Gotti gives me more freedom in attack and I'm still learning to play in this position.”
On Deulofeu
“[Gerard] Deulofeu came back a few days ago and he's raring to go. He's absolutely determined to show what he can do and make up for everything he wasn't able to do last season.”
On De Paul
“You don't get much time to think in Serie A – you just have to do what comes to you. One thing Rodrigo [De Paul] is really good at is making you understand what he wants from you. There was a time when I used to go short but he kept telling me to run into space and with time I learnt to do that. Having a player like that who repeats things to you is important for the whole team. He helps bring out the best in you.”
On South American football
"The level of South American football is increasing. The players coming to Europe are improving a lot and I think more and more will play in European leagues in future. Udinese are the only team with lots of players in the national team. People are a bit surprised by that and they think Udinese are doing an excellent job.
"Serie A is one of the top three leagues in Europe – as the Italian national team are showing. The level here has really improved a lot."
On injuries in 2020/21
“Last season was tough for everyone. I had a knee problem in England so I didn't have much of a pre-season, then I came to Italy on the last day of the transfer window. This year I want to start off on the right foot.
“I think injuries had a big influence on performances last season. Players who played lots of games in a short time span were tired and some had to play more matches than expected."
On Molina
“Nahuel is showing what a great player he is. He's a smashing lad who tries to learn something new every day. He's got the ability to make the Argentina left-back spot his own for many years to come. He went to the Copa America as an unknown and totally proved himself, a bit like Rodrigo.”
On Musso
“I talk to Juan a lot. I'm really happy for him. He deserves this opportunity. I'm sure he'll become a top keeper. He deserves to be Argentina's number one and I hope he will be soon.”
On the fans
"I can't wait to see fans in the stands again - football is just not the same without them. They're so important for us. Playing at home with our fans behind us is amazing. I really hope we'll get them back with us.
"I want to thank the fans for always showing me their support. I'm looking forward to helping the team properly again and I'll try to give my all.”