I came to Juve to win, says Quagliarella

Italy striker Fabio Quagliarella revealed that the desire to win the title and play in the Champions League were behind his move from Napoli to Juventus.

The 27-year-old made a loan switch on Friday worth 4.5 million euros for the season to Napoli with the option of a permanent deal for a further 10.5 million euros at the end of the year.

Quagliarella, who scored a brace in Italy’s World Cup 3-2 defeat against Slovakia in South Africa, had only been at Napoli for a year since leaving Udinese.

He actually began his career at Juve’s neighbours Torino but said that it is Juve’s ambition which made the difference for him.

“At Napoli the objective was to improve on last season whereas Juventus are looking to win the title and get into the Champions League,” he said.

“Here it’s a step forward. Inter Milan are always the team to beat but we must give it a go.

“We’re a young team so we’ll need to gel quickly and we’ll try to trip everyone up.”

Napoli actually finished a place above Juve in sixth last season but while the Turin giants have spent lavishly and added nine new players, including five Italy internationals, Napoli have been very quiet in the transfer market.

But as well as ambition, Quagliarella suggested he had problems with the management in Naples.

“I felt great with the fans and my team-mates,” he added. “But when you don’t trigger a mechanism, there’s a certain feeling with others.”

Juventus begin their season with a trip to Bari, where they lost 3-1 last season during a mid-season collapse in which they lost five out of six games.

However, new boss Luigi Delneri is more interested in the future and reshaping Juve into a team that befitts their glorious past rather than the rabble that slumped to their worst ever season in Serie A last year.

“Inter are still the team to beat but we’re not thinking about the gap between us and the nerazzurri,” he said.

“Our aim is to once again perform like Juve.”

First off they must overcome a determined and energetic Bari side but Delneri insists his team will match their hosts for effort.

“We have quality and intensity, we also run like Bari but our quality will count as well,” he said.

Bari boss Giampiero Ventura promised that his team will give a 60,000 full house something to cheer on Sunday.

“Tomorrow we’ll offer the public at the San Nicola stadium a show and many goal-scoring chances,” he said.

“The hope is that this group continue to express themselves like they did last season while avoiding the virus of resting on one’s laurels, which comes from receiving too many plaudits in the past and having exceeded expectations last season.”

Ventura is expecting this to be a tough test, regardless of Juve being short of forward Amauri, who is out for almost a month with a thigh problem.

“It’s a slight advantage for us but Quagliarella is like a sniper,” said Ventura.

“Juventus are still Inter’s most credible challengers for the title.”