Nicolo Fagioli aims for Juventus playing return this season

Nicolo Fagioli aims to play for Juventus again this season.

The midfielder is serving a betting ban which runs to mid-May.

Speaking after attending a 'sports and gambling' function as part of his punishment, he told Gazzeta.it: "I'm not saying I've already come out of it yet, it's certainly been a very difficult period and the journey doesn't end in five months.

"But I'm certainly trying to get out of it definitively. What pushed me towards the game? I think the main reason was the boredom.

"I'm fine, I'm happy to be here: I tell young people not to even start betting and to cultivate their dreams.

"A year ago was the most difficult period because I had problems caused by gambling. In those cases It becomes complex to manage everything on my own and at that point I realized that I had to ask for help. What drove me to put so much money into the game? Maybe I had a lot of free time, boredom led me to play. I think this was the main cause: it started like this, but after time it became an illness."

Fagioli can't wait to get back on the pitch and highlighted his teammates with whom he continues to train every day.

They helped me a lot in the hardest period of my life. Who am I closest to? To Vlahovic, Gatti and Chiesa. The disqualification ends on May 19th, on May 26th with Monza I hope to play again.

"Was gambling negatively affecting my work? I think so because I wasn't training 100%, and therefore in the match I wasn't giving everything that I will be able to give later after my return."