Juventus have shown both a leap of faith as well as being thrifty by elevating Igor Tudor from interim head coach to permanent manager. He takes training on 24 July but with many players he wants out.
Tudor lost one of his nine Serie A matches, grinding out reasonable results through some insipid displays. Rivals choked in the final few weeks, allowing Juventus to finish fourth in the table and secure Champions League soccer.
Tudor’s troops experienced a labored FIFA Club World Cup campaign. Having been outplayed by both Manchester City and Real Madrid exposed the club’s spectrum of weaknesses, with only the goalkeeper position not needing a tweak.
The no-nonsense Croatian didn’t give many players the chance to compete, instead picking his favorites.
His single-mindedness about who meets his exacting standards is questionable, especially after making U-turns over Francisco Conceicao and Dusan Vlahovic.
Winger Conceicao was initially underutilized by Tudor. When he was short of options threw on the 22-year-old Portuguese international, who excelled to such an extent that the club have just splashed the cash on signing the former loanee on a permanent contract.
Center forward Vlahovic was championed by Tudor as the best Serie A striker. Some woeful displays, lack of service and niggling injuries saw the Serbia international fall of favor.
Juventus keen to cash in
He does not feature in Tudor’s plans, and Juve want to cash in as the 25-year-old’s contract expires next June. There’s been no takers in the Premier League, despite talks with Vlahovic’s agents last week in England.
Vlahovic has turned down approaches from the Saudi Pro League and Turkish Super Lig. With time running out before the next soccer season kicks off, he is contemplating taking a dramatic pay cut to reunite with former Juve boss Max Allegri at AC Milan.
Tudor has signed only two players so far, goal poacher Jonathan David as a free agent and Conceicao from FC Porto.
There appears to be the imminent signing of Joao Mario from Porto, while fellow right-back Alberto Costa is expected to move in the opposite direction.
Much-needed money starts to arrive
Juventus Next Gen standout Samuel Mbangula has been sold to SV Werder Bremen for €10 million (US$10.7m) on a five-year deal, with fellow attacking player Timothy Weah on the brink of signing for Tudor’s former club Olympique Marseille.
Tudor has singled out which players are surplus to requirements, covering all positions from shotstopper to strikers.
Midfielder Douglas Luiz, who has been a flop since arriving last summer from Aston Villa, should fetch the most revenue. Although it won’t be anywhere as near as the €50m (US$53.5m) the Bianconeri coughed up.
Despite speculation across Italian sports media about bringing in high-profile players on hefty salaries, Juventus are cash-strapped this summer so will not be able to repeat last year’s spending spree by Motta.
Permanent deals become misfits
Loans were turned into permanent deals on 1 July for keeper Michele Di Gregorio, winger Nicolas Gonzalez plus defensive duo Pierre Kalulu and Lloyd Kelly. Yet the club are trying to offload both Gonzalez and Kelly.
Contract renewals were agreed for defender Federico Gatti and emerging superstar Kenan Yildiz, which were two positives for Juventus.
Some despondency will be anticipated when training kicks off at the Continassa, as there’s so much uncertainty surrrounding the future of players.
It’s highly questionable whether this is a brave new dawn or simply bad planning, only time will tell but rival Serie A sides are bouncing along with much more self-belief than the once mighty Juventus.