South Africa-born Joel Untersee back at Italian giants Juventus

South Africa-born Joel Untersee is back at Italian giants Juventus after spending the past season on loan at Serie B outfit Brescia.

The full-back‚ who is being tracked by the South African Football Association (Safa) for the senior national team‚ has been named in Juventus’ pre-season squad for the 2017/18 season and will hope to finally make his mark at the club.

Untersee made 39 appearances for Brescia last season‚ but at the age of 23‚ is now looking to make his mark in the big time.

Untersee‚ who was born in Roodeport‚ has represented Switzerland at every level of junior football from Under-15 to the Under-21s‚ though that has not yet been translated into a senior national team appearance.

He joined the Juventus youth academy in 2011 and has been part of the pre-season squads for the first teams on a number of occasions since‚ but has so far only been loaned out.

He spent almost three seasons with Lichtenstein club Vaduz‚ who actually play in the Swiss league‚ and then at Brescia.

He has always been a regular in these teams‚ and already has over 100 senior team appearances across the clubs.

Safa last year expressed their desire to cast their net wider in the hunt for fresh talent for the national team‚ which led to the call-up for Dutch-born Lars Veldwijk.

Untersee falls under that bracket‚ though so far he has decided to pursue his career with Switzerland‚ who are currently fifth in the FIFA World Rankings.

- TimesLIVE