Atalanta midfielder and Switzerland international Remo Freuler spoke today as his side prepares to face Italy on Wednesday in Rome.
The 29 year-old is one of only two members of the Swiss national team who play their club football in Serie A (the other being Torino’s Ricardo Rodriguez) — however, Granit Xhaka is close to becoming the third.
The Swiss captain is nearing a transfer to Roma from Arsenal after José Mourinho put the 28 year-old near the top of his summer transfer wish list. He already has a contract agreement in place with the capital club, who are still negotiating with the Gunners on a transfer fee.
When asked about his compatriot’s proposed transfer, Freuler dropped a hint that the deal seems to be nearing a successful conclusion.
“He asked me earlier how the roads in Italy are,” he revealed to Corriere dello Sport.
“As for Wednesday, though, we don’t feel any extra pressure. It’ll be nice to face some of my teammates, but we have to play our game.”
He added, “We need to press well against Italy while remaining compact. We can’t do what Turkey did by sitting too deep, it makes things easier for them.”