After his contract with Juventus Turin expired this summer, Dusan Vlahovic spent a long time looking for a new club—and he found one in Besiktas. The Serbian has now spoken at length about his new club, his final year in Turin—and his expectations for the upcoming Nations League match in Germany.

After months of back-and-forth, Dusan Vlahovic finally gave Besiktas the green light—and moved to Turkey on dream terms, where he was greeted with wild enthusiasm. “It was unimaginable to me that I could spark such euphoria and joy among the fans. I’m very happy about that,” the striker said in an interview with Mozzart Sport, admitting that he was taken by surprise by the fans. “I knew they were passionate, loved soccer, and took everything very seriously, but I didn’t expect it to be on this scale. They live for soccer; their club and their players literally mean everything to them, and that was truly phenomenal.”

Vlahovic, who immediately shone on his debut with a hat trick in the 6–2 win over Corum FK, knows, however, that this euphoria “also creates the pressure of high expectations. But I’ve been used to having the highest expectations placed on me since I was a child.” The 26-year-old also explained why he ultimately chose Besiktas. Although there were many interested clubs—partly because he was available on a free transfer—the Istanbul club made the greatest effort.

“They tried to get in touch with me all summer long—and did their best to win me over. I really liked that, because I think that in life, in general, you should go where you’re most in demand.” Coach Vincenzo Italiano, whom he knows from their time together at AC Florence, also played a major role. “That was perhaps even the most important factor,” the star striker admitted, emphasizing: “I thought long and hard about it and believe I’ve made the best decision for my career at this moment. Time will tell.”

Mixed Feelings at Juve

He looks back on his time at Juve with mixed feelings, however. On the one hand, he “spent four and a half great years at this club” and is grateful for everything because “it felt phenomenal to me”; on the other hand, there was last season, which proved difficult. At first, he was benched after deciding not to renew his expiring contract. “In my opinion, that was the only reason I was on the bench at the start of the season,” said Vlahovic, explaining that for a long time there had been no concrete contract talks between him and Juve.

“During the three years in which there were daily reports and speculation about my contract extension at Juventus, I never had a single concrete conversation with the club’s management. That’s the truth. I didn’t speak with the club’s management until toward the end of last season; the last time was on June 2. That conversation ended without an agreement, and there has been no further contact with Juventus since then. There was a lot of talk about what conditions I supposedly set, but much of it wasn’t true. That didn’t bother me much, because I know how it really was and what was going on.”

He’s moved on from Juve anyway—and on good terms, as he notes. “This club has given me a lot, and I’ve tried at every moment to give back as much as possible. I’ll say it again: We’re professionals; that’s our job. I’m very grateful to Juventus, because it’s a huge club—one of the biggest in the world, the biggest in Italy—and for me, it was a great honor to have been a part of it.” Vlahovic’s focus is now on Besiktas and the national team, with whom he’ll face Germany in Munich on October 1.

No high expectations for the Germany game

In the Nations League group featuring Germany, the Netherlands, and Greece, he doesn’t have overly high expectations for his team. “We shouldn’t be afraid of anyone or back down from anyone, but the reality is that in our group we’re facing teams like the Netherlands and Germany—and those will certainly be very tough matches for us. Greece is also a very good, well-organized national team. Our goals are ambitious, but we also have to remain realistic. We should focus entirely on the games against Greece and simply give it our all against the Netherlands and Germany, trying to achieve the best possible result.”