After the shady dealings of the past few years, Juve finally wants to make positive headlines again, but financially there are big worries. Still, the team appears more than competitive.
What’s the mood like?
In the recent past, Juventus Turin has repeatedly made headlines, rarely due to sporting achievements, but all the more frequently due to balance sheet tricks and the resulting penalties. Most recently, the Italian record champions were excluded from the European Cup by UEFA for this season. A punishment that was not at all inconvenient for Juve, who had only qualified for the third-class Europa Conference League due to a ten-point deduction in the league.
Perhaps that is why the club decided not to take legal action against the penalty. “We want to draw a line under the matter,” club president Gianluca Ferrero recently stressed, and went on to say that the Turin club now wants to focus on the future. Juve’s future therefore lies entirely in Serie A this season – combined with the clear goal of qualifying for the Champions League again.
The Bianconeri are in dire need of that, because Italy’s biggest club is not at all well off financially. On the contrary: in 2021/22, Juventus made a loss of a staggering 254.3 million euros, compared to 210 million the year before. The once noble club is on the road to financial ruin. As a result, Turin is looking to the future with concern, which of course ultimately leads to a mixed mood around the club between optimism of purpose and existential angst.
What can the squad do?
Not surprisingly, Juve have kept a low profile in the transfer market. There are no big-name additions, defender Facundo Gonzalez (20) from Valencia FC has been the top transfer so far. But big names like the two veterans Angel di Maria (Benfica) and Juan Cuadrado (Inter Milan) have left Juve – and Dusan Vlahovic has also been a hot topic this summer.
The Serbian is actually set to play up front, but there were hopes in Turin that a possible sale of the “silverware” would create financial leeway. The 23-year-old had been linked with Bayern Munich, Paris St. Germain and Chelsea FC – but it never became serious, so coach Massimiliano Allegri can continue to rely on the 80 million man.
It is not at all out of the question, however, that Vlahovic will leave the Old Lady this summer after all. Meanwhile, the injury-prone Paul Pogba or the former Schalke player Weston McKennie would not be hindered in Turin in the event of a transfer request (and corresponding monetary compensation), the same applies to club legend Leonardo Bonucci (36), who also only made sporadic appearances in the past season and will probably leave the club.
One thing has been noticeable for some time: Juve has rejuvenated. In attack, six players are 23 or younger; only Federico Chiesa (25) and former Bundesliga pro Arkadiusz Milik (24 games for FC Augsburg and Bayer 04 Leverkusen) are older at 29.
And in midfield, too, there are only two players who have already crossed 30, ex-Frankfurt player Filip Kostic and Pogba. Nevertheless, the Juve midfield is not lacking in experience, as the Frenchman Adrien Rabiot (28) and Manuel Locatelli (25) have been established players for years – Rabiot in particular was a Juve bench last Serie A season. In addition, there are up-and-coming talents like Nicolo Fagioli (22) and Fabio Miretti (20), who already played regularly last season.
Defensively, Allegri can rely on much more experience, as he has seasoned defenders at his disposal in Alex Sandro (32), Danilo (32), Mattia de Sciglio (30) and Bremer (26).
What is the goal?
Juve is also in a consolidation process this year, which they had already initiated in 2022. The team is comparatively young, but already showed last season that it can compete at the top in Italy – without the points deduction, they would have qualified for the Champions League.
One thing is clear: The Old Lady has a well-coordinated squad and, with Allegri still in charge, has a coach who knows all the ropes on the sidelines. Another advantage is that the Turin team does not have a double burden this season. Therefore, the Bianconeri are pretty much a force to be reckoned with in Serie A this year, and their official goal is a Champions League place – but they would certainly take the Scudetto with them if the opportunity arose.
“It’s pointless to talk about the Scudetto,” Allegri was emphatically cautious in an interview with the “Gazzetta dello Sport”, but also referred in this context to the club’s great history with 36 championships won, among other things, and stressed that they could not afford to go into a season without clear goals. “You have to start ambitiously and get the maximum out of it. Then in March we’ll see where we stand – it’s a long journey until then.”
However, a journey with enough breaks, as Allegri knows. “We have the advantage of playing only one game a week. That’s good because we can train and rehearse more. This team needs that as well. We need to work on our self-esteem – and our game-building.”
