Federico Bernardeschi sat down with the Corriere della Sera yesterday for a quick interview and, as usual, knocked it out of the park. He first deflected the praise lavished on him from every quarter, saying, "I've only just arrived in Serie A, and there's a very long road ahead of me. I'm not worried, because I have faith, consistency, passion, and hunger."
He went on to address new Bayern Munich boss Carlo Ancelotti's praise of him; big Carlo said recently that Berna is the Italian player he'd most like to have in his team. The youngster's response was spot-on, acknowledging the praise while tilting the focus back to his current team: "I'm honoured that the likes of Ancelotti, Cesare Prandelli and Marcello Lippi hold me in such high regard. I'm not troubled by interest from big clubs, as I'm only focused on doing well in Florence. Wearing the 10 jersey was extra motivation after coming back from a long injury absence. That shirt means so much at Fiorentina: it’s a symbol."
Next, he took a moment to talk about the club's aspirations for the remainder of the season. "We're only partly a surprise outfit, because we know our potential and how hard we're working. I don’t see that we're missing a lot to be considered Scudetto contenders. The second half of the season will be tougher, because now everyone knows our style and how dangerous we can be, but we have the right mentality. This season, it’s very balanced and I don’t see a real Scudetto favorite."
So there you have Berna: brushing off all the (well-deserved) nice stuff people are saying about him, gently deflecting any discussion of a move away from Fiorentina in favor of talking about the club, and then delivering a good company line. Dude already sounds like an old pro. It's like he and Khouma Babacar are competing to see who can sound the coolest in interviews, and everyone wins.