"De Zerbi Made Us Wake Up at 4 AM to Run in the Woods"

Bologna winger Jonathan Rowe has revealed details about a violent altercation with Adrien Rabiot in the Marseille dressing room, an incident that precipitated his move to Italy last summer. The Englishman clarified that the chaos began with another teammate.

"I was arguing with goalkeeper Rulli, and we exchanged some harsh words. Security intervened, and then Adrien got involved," the attacker recounted in an interview with The Athletic. From there, the situation escalated into a physical assault, which his former coach, De Zerbi, described as a "bar fight."

Rowe insists he wasn't the instigator of the violence. "He [De Zerbi] and Benatia [then sporting director] didn't see the first punch he threw at me. They thought I hit him first, but that wasn't the case. Imagine, Darryl Bakola even passed out. The situation literally spiraled out of control," he detailed.

Despite the incident, Rowe holds fond memories of working with De Zerbi, now Tottenham's manager, from whom he claims to have learned to "pay close attention to details." However, the coach's training methods were surprisingly tough. "They were exhausting, to death. We'd wake up at four in the morning to run in the woods, in the cold. We had flashlights to see in the dark. And then there were circuits, uphill sprints. I'd never seen anything like it in my career," he recalled.

Currently with the Bologna squad, the 23-year-old forward has clear ambitions for the future and a role model to follow. "My goal is to reach a top Premier League club," he stated. To achieve this, he draws inspiration from Kvaratskhelia, a player who operates in the same position. "I often ask the match analyst to send me videos of the Georgian. I study him. I try to 'steal' his way of facing opponents, of anticipating their movements. That small change of direction, the cut inside, and the cross to the far post."