Fresh off his second consecutive Copa America triumph with Chile, Arturo Vidal was all smiles when looking ahead to another promising season with Bayern Munich.
After the club kicked things off at the International Champions Cup, some reminiscing about a glittering tenure with Juventus was in order with Marco Pasotto, but the midfielder’s enthusiasm about the German side was also evident.
A knack of claiming silverware for both club and country became a central theme to the discussion, as Vidal went on to emphasize a strong desire for Champions League success, where he expects the Old Lady will show their strength.
We see you’re particularly smiley, is this the effect of the Copa America?
“It may be, it was something very important for us in Chile, and then it happened for two years in a row.”
Certainly also playing at Bayern is a great reason to be in a good mood. Do you miss Italy sometimes?
“I admit, I miss it a little. I spent four wonderful years in Italy and I still have many friends, but my wife is happy in Munich and that’s where we started a new life.”
One day, will you return to our league?
“It is difficult to picture, for one simple reason: I’m happy in Munich and Bayern is all I want.”
And do you also love training under Carlo Ancelotti? It seems to be that everyone worships him in Munich.
“He’s a great coach, one of the most prepared in the world. I’m happy to have him there.”
Do you think Juve’s recent [transfer] recruits could place them into the elite set of European clubs?
“They’ve become very competitive by taking several important players and are now at the level of other top clubs, without a doubt. They may struggle to win the Champions League, but my Bayern are the best team in the world, even more than the strongest Juve side when I was there.
“For this reason we want to win all of the possible titles. Ancelotti and this group are enough to become the number one side in Europe.”