Pescara: 'Verratti to Juve on our terms'

Pescara President Daniele Sebastiani explained why he appointed Coach Giovanni Stroppa and that Marco Verratti will only go to Juventus “on our terms.”

The Delfini earned promotion to Serie A under Zdenek Zeman, who has since left to take over at Roma, so Stroppa has been given the bench.

“We chose Stroppa because the Board of Directors was convinced and we made the decision after speaking to four top class tacticians,” Sebastiani told Sky Sport Italia.

“We believe Stroppa can continue the project put in place by Zeman. The other Coaches we contacted were Delio Rossi, Gian Piero Gasperini and Ciro Ferrara, but Stroppa had all the characteristics we were looking for.”

The Coach isn’t the only element that could change next season, as a bidding war has broken out for midfielder Verratti.

“It’s no secret we had meetings with Juventus. Right now we do not have any rush nor need to sell. We’ll see how negotiations develop and if we have the opportunity to include players who are of interest to us.

“The important thing is that Verratti remains in Pescara for another season, because I promised the lad we would make him happy. He will only go to Juventus on our terms, if he goes at all.”

Lorenzo Insigne’s future is also up in the air, as the Under-21 international striker is owned by Napoli.

“He is an important player. I’ve been told that if he isn’t expected to start the campaign as a protagonist at Napoli, then President Aurelio De Laurentiis will leave him to us for another year.”