Football Season Guide

Having dominated Italian football for the past 8 seasons, this time around Juventus might have lost some of their confidence, thus unwittingly reducing the gap existing between themselves and the other title contenders. With Paratici as the new sports director, they first parted ways with Massimo Allegri, the architect of their last 5 triumphal campaigns, but guilty for not winning the Champions League. Instead they signed Maurizio Sarri, their arch-enemy when he was at Napoli, whose experience at Chelsea was only partly successful and whose attitude might not be apt for the Old Lady. In terms of players, they immediately hired 3 free agents in Ramsey and Rabiot, who did not play much last season, and the returning Buffon, who agreed to act as Szczesny’s reserve. Then, they strengthened the defence, adding Demiral, who had a great season in Sassuolo, and De Ligt, who had impressed them in the Champions League while at Ajax. Last but not least, they added a much-needed right-back, trading in Danilo from Manchester City for Joao Cancelo, who did not leave a great mark in Turin. In terms of departures, they also let Spinazzola go, acquiring Luca Pellegrini from Roma, a talented left-back who will be loaned out, and wunderkind Kean, for whom there was no place given all the players they have in the attack. Now, ahead of the start of the campaign, Juventus have several players they absolutely need to get rid of, among them Can, Matuidi, Higuain Mandzukic and, perhaps, Dybala, while they failed to sign Icardi from Inter or Chiesa from Fiorentina, their summer dreams. Moreover, their preseason was far from spectacular both in terms of play and results, confirming that some summer decisions might not have been the right ones.