Eni Aluko Reveals Reasons for Leaving Juventus to Return to England

Eni Aluko has opened up about her plans for the future and has revealed why she chose to cut her time in Italy short ahead of her final game for Juventus on Sunday.

​The former England striker recently ​​announced her decision to leave the Italian giants after a hugely successful 18 months in Turin. 

Aluko has confirmed she will be returning to the WSL, the league she won on three occasions during a six year spell with Chelsea, but is yet to reveal the club she will be joining. 

In an interview with ​TalkSport, Aluko said: "I'm very excited to be coming back to English football because I think at the moment the WSL is the best league in the world for many reasons.

"Obviously the product on the field, also where it's going commercially, the attendance levels, just the level of competitiveness, so I'm very excited about coming back.

"I'll keep it to myself for now about what the next step is... I want to kind of chill for a bit."

Aluko's destination will be of huge interest for WSL fans. Her form in Italy has demonstrated that she would be a welcome addition to any WSL side, after she topped the Juventus scoring charts during her first season with the club.

Despite on the field success, off the pitch Aluko has admitted to struggling towards the end of her time in Italy. 

In her column for the ​Guardian, Aluko wrote: "Leaving 18 months into a two-year contract has not been an easy decision. 

"I realise my focus needs to be on the next three to five years of my career rather than the next few months, but it also reflects the fact that off the pitch I have found the last six months very difficult.

"Sometimes Turin feels a couple of decades behind in terms of its general openness to different kinds of people.

"I have grown tired of walking into stores and feeling as if the owner expects me to rob the place. There is only so many times you can arrive at Turin airport and have the sniffer dogs treat you like you are Pablo Escobar.

"I have not experienced any racism from Juventus fans or within the women’s league, but there is an issue in Italy and in Italian football and it is the response to it that really worries me, from owners and fans in the men’s game who seem to see it as a part of fan culture."