Kwadwo Asamoah admits “it was hard give up” the Africa Cup of Nations but “I wanted to stay and help Juventus”.

The Ghanaian was expected to miss January due to the tournament, but opted not to accept a call-up for the Black Stars.

“It was hard to give up,” Asamoah admitted in an interview with JTV.

“The Coach [Avram Grant] and the President of the Federation [Kwesi Nyantakyi] called me many times, and I told them how much I’d have liked to go.

“I’ve had a lot of problems over the last two years though and right now I need to train and play as much as possible.

“I’m glad, because I wanted to stay here, work, and help the team.”

Juve are looking to win the Champions League this season, but Asamoah warns the Old Lady can’t afford to be distracted.

“There will be time for the Champions League, but in the meantime there’s the League which is different than usual because so many teams are doing well like Roma, Napoli and Milan.

“The Coppa Italia? We’re facing a top team [Atalanta] who are having a great season and play a lot of Italians.

“It won’t be easy, but our objective is to reach the final again this year, and we’ll face them with the utmost concentration.”