Juventus: Mohamed Ihattaren speaks out on Sampdoria nightmare

Juventus loanee Mohamed Ihattaren has opened up on his ill-fated loan move to Sampdoria, slamming the club in a revealing interview.

The Dutchman joined Juventus in the summer from PSV and was immediately loaned out to Samp for the 2021/22 campaign. However, Ihattaren failed to make an appearance for the Blucerchiati as he went missing midway through the first half of the season.

The player returned to the Netherlands over the October international break for “family reasons” before going AWOL. There were genuine fears for his safety at one point, with seemingly no one aware of where he was.

All is well, however, although we will never see Ihattaren play for Sampdoria. He’s expected to join hometown club Utrecht for the remainder of the season after sacking agent Mino Raiola.

Mohamed Ihattaren slams Sampdoria following nightmare loan spell

In an interview with Dutch outlet Telegraaf (via TuttoJuve), Ihattaren slammed Sampdoria’s cold treatment of him after he joined the club on deadline day last summer.

“At 19 years of age, I was sitting in a hotel room, alone, left to myself. I couldn’t take it anymore, all kinds of agreements were not respected by Sampdoria,” he said.

“I was as if I don’t exist. Nothing was organised, no bank account nor insurance. I didn’t get a salary, so I called the team manager and he said ‘we pay every two months’.

“It didn’t happen and all of this started to irritate me. I didn’t play, there were no prospects and I called Raiola who told me to stay calm,” Ihattaren added.

Ihattaren says he was fit and ready to play for Sampdoria

Before going AWOL, Sampdoria had placed the teenager on a tailored fitness programme after being deemed five kilograms overweight by the club. However, Ihattaren has suggested that his physical condition was no issue and he was ready to play.

“My physical condition? I was fine and I wanted to train,” he said. “But it seemed they didn’t understand me or didn’t want to. I felt like I was on vacation, there was irritation in the group because of this lack of clarity and I also had a fight with [Antonio] Candreva, even though I respect what he’s done in his career.

“After I had decided to return to the Netherlands, Mr D’Aversa called me to tell me that I would be the starter for the next match. They hadn’t kept any promises in Genoa and I didn’t believe them anymore. I had lost all kind of confidence,” the teenager concluded.

Sampdoria are preparing to sue Ihattaren after recent comments

Understandably, Sampdoria haven’t taken kindly to Ihattaren’s comments and they’ve warned that they’ll take legal action against the player.

A club statement read (via Football Italia): “With regard to the statements made by the footballer Mohamed Ihattaren to the Telegraaf newspaper, UC Sampdoria rejects any type of charge, as these are fanciful allegations without any foundation.

“The club has always fulfilled all its obligations having the player himself decided to leave Genoa without any authorization.

“No disagreement with any member of the technical staff and the first team has ever occurred.

“UC Sampdoria, therefore, reserves the right to protect, in the most appropriate forum, its image as well as to take action for the damage caused by the player’s unavailability, which was entirely down to his own decisions,” the statement concluded.