Juventus captain Giorgio Chiellini stands by his criticism of Mario Balotelli and Felipe Melo in his new book.

Chiellini took aim at both players who he played with for Italy and Juve respectively.

“I've written a book, I've taken on these responsibilities. I wanted to leave a mark," he told Christian Vieri on Instagram.

“I wanted to show how much Giorgio had seen, with his strengths and weaknesses, the real 'me'.

“I'm not one to hold grudges, but writing as if it was all sunshine and rainbows seemed fake and hypocritical to me.

“I wrote things that were already known and had already been addressed, I didn't hide away."