Juventus defender Bremer explains why he turned down Italy call-up

Juventus defender Bremer has revealed why he turned down the possibility to play for the Italian national team, despite then-head coach Roberto Mancini encouraging him to switch allegiances to the Azzurri.

Bremer, who now has 5 caps for the Brazilian national team, spoke to ESPN (with quotes via TMW) about how “it didn’t seem right.”

He revealed that “the idea was there but I come from the heart of Bahia and suddenly becoming Italian felt very forced to me.”

Bremer received Mancini call but chose Brazil

Italian national team head coach at the time, Roberto Mancini, spoke to the Juventus defender personally – attempting to encourage him to play for the Azzurri – “I even spoke about it with Mancini who told me I was eligible for a passport through my wife.”

However, the centre-back chose his native Brazil over Italy after struggling to imagine how he would fit amongst the Italian contingent: “I even imagined the first day at the training camp – maybe someone would have asked me ‘What are you doing here?’ And, honestly, I wouldn’t have liked that.”

Bremer signed for Juventus in July 2022 from fierce city rivals Torino after being named the top defender of the 2021-22 Serie A season. He later received his first call up to Brazil in following September. Despite only making five caps for Brazil, the defender has struggled with injury and strong competition for a place in the team – with Arsenal’s Gabriel and Real Madrid’s Eder Militao amongst the players who have been given the nod over the Juve man.