On the day he was named as Udinese's new club captain, Florian Thauvin revealed his feeling of pride on Udinese Tonight – where he was a guest with his freshly appointed vice-captain Jaka Bijol.
“I'm delighted to be the new captain,” the French striker began. “It's a big responsibility but I'll do everything in my power to help the team, the fans and the club to achieve all we can.
“Udinese is a big family and the first thing is to work well together. I think experience in the game and in life helps you to help others. I have a lot of experience as a professional and now is the right time for me to take on this responsibility. And I'm very happy to share the job with a great player like Jaka.”
Bijol echoed his words.
“I'm happy to be here and to help Florian. I feel ready to take on this responsibility.
“Last year was very testing for all of us but hopefully this season will be different. No one wants a repeat of last season.
Thauvin then spoke about his relationship with Gerard Deulofeu and the new coach's methods
“I talk to Deulofeu a lot, every day, even when we're far apart. We're good friends and we're looking forward to having him back with us soon.
“[Kosta] Runjaic's philosophy is to keep the ball and always try to use it intelligently. Jaka and I are happy because we can see the team are doing things well. The coach has lots of good ideas and all the players have embraced them. I have to help the team to play around the opposition's press but also make more runs towards goal. I hope I get more chances to score this year.
“The atmosphere in the camp is great and we're all enjoying ourselves – that's really important if we want to get off to a good start.
Bijol also commented on making a fresh start with the new campaign.
“Playing at the Euros with Slovenia was a great experience and now I'm ready for the new season. I can see a different energy in the squad, a different attitude, as well as the different tactics of course.
“I'm not thinking about the transfer talk. I'm here and all I'm thinking about is giving 100% for this club and for my team-mates.
“What's changed from before is we want to hold onto the ball more – that's a big difference. We have to play football and enjoy ourselves more by moving the ball around and try to win that way. You can't win with defence alone. We must set out to score goals.”