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Juventus. A club steeped in history. The Old Lady.
A club synonymised with success. 35 Serie A’s, including the last eight editions. Two European Cups. And now are in possession of one of the greatest players of a generation in Cristiano Ronaldo.
This summer they have already swooped to three free Bosman deals, offering flexible bumper contracts to compensate for the lack of money spent on transfer fee.
SOURCE: zimbio.com
But why, in these success-ridden years, have they relied on contract expiration for a substantial percentage of their big signings? And how successful have the most notable ones been?
Fabio CANNAVARO (2009/10)
The first and probably the least successful of the trend, Cannavaro (right) re-joined Juve from Real Madrid on a free transfer in a summer of change for the Galacticos.
It was that season in which Juventus were battered by Roy Hodgson’s Fulham in the Europa League. Juve led 4-1 on aggregate and 1-0 on the night at Craven Cottage before the former Ballon D’or winner was sent off, with the ten men from Turin collapsing to a 4-1 defeat and condemning themselves to aberration.
Cannavaro would leave the next summer for Al-Ahli and retire in 2011. He is currently managing Guangzhou Evergrande in the Chinese Super League.
Rating: 3/10
Andrea PIRLO (2011-15)
A wand of a ping and wizardry personified, Andrea Pirlo certified himself as the coolest man in football during his four-year stay in Turin.
The cultured defensive midfielder arrived from A.C. Milan after their last title win in 2011, and went on to win four in subsequence with the Old Lady, as well as reaching the UEFA Champions League final in his final year. They lost out to Barcelona and Pirlo would move across the pond to newly founded New York City FC with the likes of David Villa and Frank Lampard. He then retired in 2017 after 60 appearances and currently is working in punditry.
Still looking gorgeous, Andrea. No Pirlo, no party.
Rating: 8/10
Paul POGBA (2012-16)
Once a teenage dancing sensation, Paul is now a 26-year-old dancing sensation and a fantastic footballer. Pogba has had his doubters in the past, and still does, but many say his best days so far came in the black and white of the Old Lady.
Although banging in 13 goals and grabbing nine assists this season, Pogba is widely considered to be a somewhat waste of natural talent. He is rumoured to be heading back to Juventus after his £89m move to Old Trafford in 2016. Some sort of footballing love triangle going on here!
It remains to be seen where the Frenchman will acquaint himself, but wherever it is he has a point to prove. A 10/10 for this one on profit alone.
Fernando LLORENTE (2013-2016)
A familiar name to modern Premier League fans, Llorente has become known as Harry Kane’s experienced replacement leading the line for Tottenham Hotspur.
But people forget the goalscoring torment the veteran Spaniard used to havoc in the late noughties and early 2010s. A blitz from Bilbao, the strong and powerful centre-forward has now featured in two Champions League finals, coming on as a substitute in both and losing both.
The first one he played in was with the Old Lady back in 2015, and he signed the dotted line just two years earlier. The Basque native scored 23 goals in 66 Serie A matches, mostly coming off the bench.
A decent squad player, but not a top tier striker. A Spanish Giroud.
6/10.
Kingsley COMAN (2014-15)
One of European’s hottest prospects at the time, Kingsley Coman technically was a Juventus player until 2017 when he sealed a permanent transfer to Bavarian giants Bayern Munich.
He arrived from PSG as one of the lesser known players on this list, yet the Frenchman continues to impress on the European stage to this day. Perhaps the big-club mentality always instilled makes a larger impact on Coman’s career than expected, having threatened to retire after the next major injury he had last year.
Whatever happens in his career he is a supremely talented individual and will have a brilliant career.
Also a bit of profit for Juve.
7/10.
Sami KHEDIRA (2015-present)
Khedira in his career has always seemed like the small fish in the big pond. He’s always there, he does his job, but he is never the biggest name or has the biggest reputation on the team sheet.
Moving from Real Madrid in 2015, Khedira has won four Scudetto titles and three Coppa Italias in his time with the Turin outfit. These add to the six major trophies he won with the Galacticos and an elusive Bundesliga with Stuttgart in 2007.
Although Khedira may not be a fixture in the Allianz Stadium next season, he still will play a vital rotation role with his midfield counterparts to oil the Juventus engine next season. Overall, a pretty decent signing. 7.5/10.
Dani ALVES (2016-17)
The worlds premier right back at the time, Dani Alves galvanised Juventus’ backline when he arrived on a free from Barcelona.
A prized possession of Pep and his post-graduates, Alves enlisted all of the attributes of the perfect modern full-back. Although by this time he was beginning to be past his best, he still helped the Old Lady to another Serie A victory. He moved on to Paris Saint-Germain and has remained there since. 6/10
Emre CAN (2018-present)
German international Can made the move from Liverpool last summer, and has had a less than eventful season being brutally honest in Turin.
Having made 23 appearances and scored two goals, he has vindicated the eight million a year wage deal given to him by the board with class and glamour. He does look like he is lacking energy and effort at some points though.
We can’t really judge Can on this season, and he is likely to be pushed further down the pecking order by Adrien Rabiot and Aaron Ramsey. 5/10.
2019 signings: Aaron RAMSEY, Adrien RABIOT and Gianluigi BUFFON
There is nothing to rate but much to speculate.
Aaron Ramsey and Adrien Rabiot. Two signings with a big wage tag, a big reputation yet not a lot to prove in a singularly dominated league. They will definitely be used in a rotation system as Maurizio Sarri has no other choice.
The re-signing of Gigi Buffon is a weird one too. Yes, sentimentality in football is sometimes fantastic. But winding down your career as a number two (or more relevantly, number 77) to Wojciech Szczesny, after a year at PSG where the only trophy lifted was Ligue 1 (a customary one for Tuchel’s men) certainly leaves questions to be asked. Why did he leave in the first place?
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Will Ramsey ramble to success? Will Rabiot romp to victory? And will Buffon meander to the UEFA Champions League title that he has never won? All will play out in the 2019/20 season.
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