Germany midfielder Emre Can has revealed that treatment from manager Maurizio Sarri contributed to the decision to join Borussia Dortmund on an initial loan deal in January. The 26-year-old barely featured under Sarri during the opening half of the Serie A campaign and he was restricted to just two starts.

As a result, he was always fancied to make the switch away from the Bianconeri and the loan move was made official on transfer deadline-day. Can has since featured for Dortmund on eight occasions in all competitions and he is pleased to have the made the decision, he told Kicker: "The main reason I left Juventus was because I wanted to play football again. Obviously the possibility of participating in the European Championships also had an impact. Sarri arrived in the summer and hadn’t trained us in the first few weeks because he had pneumonia.

"Then, after the club had refused offers for me and taken me off the market, he called me and with a 20-second phone call announced that I wasn’t on the Champions League list. After that call, I was denied any chance. I thought it was unfair and that’s why I decided to move on in January. But the decision has nothing to do with the club, nor the fans."

The German made the free transfer to Juventus from Liverpool during the summer of 2018 with the view to establishing himself with Italy’s most successful team of the decade. He was able to make 22 starts in the league and European competitions in his debut season but could not command similar gametime under Sarri, who had different plans in mind.

Can recently featured for Dortmund in the second leg of the Champions League round of 16 clash against Paris Saint-Germain. The German side were unable to take advantage of the 2-1 score from the opening leg. Les Parisiens progressed to the quarter-final stage with a 3-2 aggregate score after beating Dortmund by two clear goals at home.