04 February 2016
Interacting directly with his fans, rolling up his sleeves and answering their questions first hand, revealing what perhaps people would not otherwise see nor know about Giorgio Chiellini: the idea for the Juventus veteran’s second book, entitled “The Defender #SocialBiography” is simple yet fascinating.
A departure from the Juve veteran’s first release, a homage to club legend Gaetano Scirea just under two years ago, and indeed from a traditional biography, Chiellini’s book looks behind the jersey with the help of supporters to unravel what makes the Old Lady’s number 3 tick both on and off the field.
Unveiling his work at Juventus’ Media Center in Vinovo this afternoon, Giorgio revealed both what fans can expect from “The Defender” and where his motivations lay in veering away from the tried and tested biographical format.
“The idea of involving the fans really interested me,” he began. “Compiling whatever questions they had either about football or about my life off the field and then answering them as if I was discussing it with friends I think allowed people to get to know me a little better.
“My ambition is to be a role model for the next generation of sports fans but you only really learn things about other people by observing what they do on a day-to-day basis.
“This book gives the readers the chance to learn things about me that they otherwise would not have known before and is in essence, the next best thing.”
The bulk of the project was naturally dedicated to the sourcing, collection and compilation of the thousands of questions posed to the Italy international. Eventually, together with his staff, Chiellini was able to whittle down the selection from over 3000 to 150 in the final edit.
“The research itself took a few months. It was not easy answering all of the questions but I hope to have pleased as many people as possible all the same.
“I’m a reserved guy off the field and there will always be things that I will never share with the public but this book will hopefully shed plenty of light on my life outside of football.”
