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Candreva hoping to shoot down heroes

ROME - Juventus new-signing Antonio Candreva admitted he is an AS Roma fan but said he will still celebrate if he scores against his boyhood idols on Saturday.

By (AFP)

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Published: Thu 21 Jan 2010, 8:13 PM

Last updated: Mon 6 Apr 2015, 4:07 AM

Candreva has signed on loan from Udinese until the end of the season with an option for Juve to buy him outright at the end of the current campaign.

And the 22-year-old revealed he still has to pinch himself to ensure this move is real.

He spent last season in Serie B on loan at Livorno and helped them to promotion to the top flight.

Udinese still did not consider him ready for their first team so loaned him out to Livorno again for this season.

And yet the Rome-born player made his debut for Italy and has now secured a move to the country’s biggest club, with a debut against Roma this weekend a likelihood given Juve’s midfield problems.

“Yes I’m a Roma fan but if I score I’ll still celebrate,” he told the official Juve channel on Thursday.

“I’m emotional and I still can’t believe I’m here. Yesterday I said it would be a dream come true and today I got to touch that dream with my own hand.”

Juve are having a torrid time this season despite winning their first four Serie A matches.

Since then they have struggled and got gradually worse. They have lost seven of their last 10 matches in all competitions and crashed out of the Champions League in December.

They have slumped to sixth in the league and are in a fight for a Champions League finish.

In midfield they have lost Christian Poulsen and Mauro Camoranesi to injury while Felipe Melo is suspended and Mohamed Sissoko is only just back from African Nations Cup duty in Angola.

Juve coach Ciro Ferrara has plumped for some low-key Italian signings to try to revitalise his team with striker Michele Paolucci, 23, also arriving on loan from Siena as Vincenzo Iaquinta and David Trezeguet are also injured.