Five free transfers that Juventus got right

After it was announced earlier on in the week that Aaron Ramsey had signed a deal to join Italian side Juventus, it highlighted the incredible record the ‘Old Lady’ have with the free transfer market.

We are going to avoid ranking them in order as we believe that all involved have their own right to be on this list, for many different reasons. Paul Pogba did sign for free but as compensation was paid for the Frenchman he isn’t included on the list.

Andrea Pirlo

Photo: Daily Post

Pirlo was a statesman for Italian football and his time at the ‘Bianconeri’ was a huge success. Many have labelled the Italian as a vintage wine, as his time towards the later end of his career was when he started to peak.

He joined back in May 2011 at the ripe age of 32. Since that time his silky passing and free-kicks earned the midfielder four Serie A titles, a Coppa Italia and two Supercoppa Italiana’s.

Managing 164 appearances for the ‘Old Lady’, Pirlo scored 19 and assisted 38 even in the later stages of his footballing career. The one trophy that missed him during his entire Juventus career was a Champions League.

Dani Alves

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Like Andrea Pirlo, Dani Alves joined Juventus after reaching the age of 30. In fact, the Brazilian despite winning 23 trophies over eight seasons with Spanish giants FC Barcelona decided that he would switch to the Italian champions in the summer of 2016 at the age of 33.

He was a hit during the 2016-2017 season, the only season he spent in Italy, before deciding to move to French champions Paris Saint Germain. During his only year in Turin, Alves scored six and assisted seven from right-back while playing 33 times.

The former Barca man scored a goal in the semi-finals of the Champions League to lead Juve to the final whilst the Brazilian also scored the first goal in their Copa Italia final win over Lazio. He also added a Serie A to his trophy collection.

Fabio Cannavaro

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Fabio Cannavaro is the only player to have had two stints with the club, his second was the one he joined for free. The defensive enforcer left in the summer of 2006 for Real Madrid after a successful two seasons in the famous black and white stripes. He won five accolades that season, leaving as Juventus got demoted to Serie B.

That year he became the last defender to win the Ballon D’or, as well as winning the UEFA’s best player in Europe, Italy’s best player, Footballer of the Year and the World Cup. Despite never winning a Serie A title for Juventus the centre-back managed to play 33 times during his second turnout for the club.

Cannavaro got to the Europa League semi-finals but didn’t manage to win a trophy with Juve in his second spell always just falling short.

Sami Khedira

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Sami Khedira is the only current player to make the list, joining them in the summer of 2015. The German has won every trophy on offer other than the Champions League. He has been the rock that has seen them win three back to back Serie A and Coppa Italia titles.

This season has already seen the midfielder lift the Supercoppa Italiana, though age and injuries haven’t helped Khedira, the German now 31 and only making nine league appearances with season.

More recent free signings Emre Can and Aaron Ramsey may indicate that the Italian side are preparing for life without Khedira as time dwindles done on his impressive career.

Neto

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Neto wasn’t a household name during his time in Turin but proved a worthy back-up to the legendary Gianluigi Buffon. The Brazilian was never going to replaced the Italian but was more than capable when called upon.

That being said Neto, who joined in 2015, helped his side lift the Coppa Italia twice while featuring in 22 games, keeping an important 13 clean sheets. The second time they won the Italia he kept a clean sheet against European side Lazio as his side won 2-0.

During those two cup wins, he beat Lazio and AC Milan twice while also seeing off Inter. He joined Spanish side Valencia in 2017 and has since been called up for his national side.

Other honourable mentions include: Fernando Llorente and Kingsley Coman.