After almost a decade of dominating Italian football, Juventus gave way to the two Milano based sides to win the following two Scudetti and barely finished top 4 last season. It was clear to everyone that a cleanup was needed, however some fans remained shocked at Juventus’s summer mercato, as a lot of big names left Juventus Stadium. Can the new arrivals fill the gaps and perhaps, lift the Old Lady back to the top of Italian football? That’s what we are trying to find out in this article.
Arrivals
Not a lot of arrivals, but a few very interesting ones. Bremer was one of Serie A’s best defenders last season, he seems to be a good candidate to replace the departing pair of De Ligt and Chiellini. Federico Chiesa is not a new signing(he was on loan at Juve last season), but given he has been injured for most of last season, he might as well be considered one.
Filip Kostic has been Frankfurt’s best player for some time, as shown in last season’s Europa League. He is a bargain for 12mil, without a doubt. A wide midfielder on the left, who knows what is Allegri preparing for the Serbian. Paul Pogba needs no introduction, if he can put his injuries behind him, he can be one of Europe’s top midfielders.
Even at the age of 34, Angel Di Maria can be a real threat. He was a key player at PSG in the last couple of season. The tricky Argentinian will add a lot of skill and experience to Juventus. Andrea Cambiaso has already been loaned out to Bologna.
Departures
Evidently, there has been a clean up at Allianz Stadium this summer, with quite a few big names leaving the club, including club captain, Giorgio Chiellini. The Italian, 37, considered it’s time to leave Europe behind and joined MLS side, LAFC. Worth noting, he is not the only Juventin to join the North American league, Douglas Costa, Vrioni and Federico Bernardeschi followed suit.
Possibly the biggest star to leave(and the one to bring in most money) is none other than Dutch player, Matthijs de Ligt. The Centre Back, aged only 22 joined Bavarian side Bayern Munich, as one of their marquee signings. Similar thing with another CB, Merih Demiral, who joined fellow Serie A side Atalanta, after being on loan there for a season. Aaron Ramsey‘s Juve career also didn’t go as planned, as he joins OGC Nice.
Possibly the biggest shock however is Paulo Dybala leaving on a free and joining Jose Mourinho’s Roma. Dybala spent the last 7 seasons at Juve and it seemed he is ready for a new challenge, however no one thought that new challenge would come from Italy’s capital. Fellow attacker, Alvaro Morata went back to the club he is owned by, Atletico Madrid.
Transfer Rumors
As the Rabiot to Manchester United rumors die off, due to Casemiro’s transfer, it seems Leandro Paredes to Juventus is also off. The Argentine midfielder was reportedly keen on a move to Italy, having agreed to personal terms, but Juventus always said that a new midfielder could only come if Rabiot leaves.
On the other hand, the Memphis Depay rumors seem to be as strong as ever, however there are a few hurdles in the way. Firstly, the Old Lady is keen on getting the Dutch ST on a free, remains to be seen whether Barca would be OK with that. Another issue is that Chelsea are more and more focused on Aubameyang, there is some concern that Barca would want to keep one of the two forwards. Fabrizio doesn’t seem to agree though!
Juve also has 3 talented young midfielders, Miretti, Fagioli and Rovella, we can probably expect some loan offers to come in for these players, with Rovella almost surely being loaned out to a fellow Serie A team.
The team for the new season
Still early days and there are a lot of injuries currently affecting Juventus, however based on the friendlies, it seems Allegri will play a 4-3-3, with Di Maria as a Right Winger, Vlahovic in the Centre and possibly Chiesa or Kostic on the Left. Note, Chiesa is still injured.
Currently we can expect a midfield consisting of Weston McKennie, Manuel Locatelli and Zakaria. Locatelli is probably going to be the CDM, the regista of the team. Remains to be seen how will Pogba fits into the team. Arthur is also an option for the centre of the pitch, while Rabiot having one year on his contract will probably play less.
Worth noting that in the first game of the Serie A season, Allegri lined up a 4-4-2, with Cuadrado being the right midfielder, McKennie on the left and a forward partnership of Di Maria and Vlahovic. As more players recover from injuries, to give more options to Allegri, we can probably expect Cuadrado to take up Danilo’s role as Right Back though.
Bremer and Bonucci look set to become the 2 CBs, while Alex Sandro should be the first choice LB once again. Wojciech Szczesny will probably be Juve’s first choice keeper, with Perin stepping in until the Pole is injured. Something like this is to be expected:
Conclusion
Recently I’ve read quite a few people saying that Juventus failed in this Mercato and they won’t be able to compete with the two Milan based sides in the league. Personally, I disagree. The Old Lady managed to pull off quite a few impressive transfers and their team looks set for the new season. There are some question marks in goal or at Left Back, but I believe Szczesny and Sandro are decent options, if they will manage to recapture their form.
I think Juventus have a good shot at winning Serie A. What do you think?
2 thoughts on “Juventus: The Old Lady back to winning ways?”
Comments are closed.