“We started along the lines of last season, with an initial defeat that immediately made us understand the difficulties of the championship. The squad is almost completely new, with only 13 players left from last year, it is normal for a team like Next Gen to change a lot and blending everyone into a group is not something that happens in a short time”. The director of Juventus Next Gen Claudio Chiellini to the official channels of the black and white club he talks about the new black and white course also dwelling on the move to Group C: “It will certainly be a long journey, like last year’s, with many difficulties to which logistical problems are also added. In fact, we are also precursors in the calendar, because for the first time since this criterion for dividing the Serie C groups has existed, a team from the north has been included in the southern group.. – continues Chiellini – It is a fascinating challenge, but also demanding, in which we will have to travel by plane and stay away for several days, with all the problems that then affect the organization of the work week. But this is also part of a growth path and I think that in the end the boys will realize during the season that by overcoming difficulties, defeats and mistakes, they will improve.”.
Then there is the new home in Biella: “I am very happy because we have been able to personalize the stadium where we and the women’s team will play. The hope is to finally create a following of fans who are permanently passionate about the Next Gen; the premises are good, the first match registered about a thousand fans and we hope that in the next ones there will be the same number, even more”.
It is then inevitable to pass on the players who grew up in the Next Gen and moved on to the first team: “This project, which we have seen born, makes us proud and I speak of the entire Vinovo system that works on the youth sector for the growth of footballers. Let’s start with a fact, clear and visible: Today Juventus’ number 10 is a player who until December last year, so until 9 months ago, was the number 10 of the Next Gen. This data has a strong meaning, without forgetting the promotion to the first team of Savona, Mbangula and Rouhi; the growth of our boys and their arrival in the first team has become a constant in recent years. – continues Chiellini – Savona, for years, has shared with Nicolussi Caviglia the shuttle from Aosta to come and train in Vinovo and this is a small example of how everyone has their share of responsibility and merit in what we are doingThe Next Gen project is not just about growing players, but also about creating and developing workers who can aspire to work in the First Team. at Juventus, it is a project that develops skills in every sector and that strengthens belonging”.
Chiellini then dwells on the choice of other big clubs – Milan and Atalanta – to launch second teams, explaining that now a further acceleration is needed: “I am therefore very happy that other teams, such as Atalanta and Milan, have undertaken the same path as us. In my opinion, now is the time for a next step, the time is ripe to create a round table with the Leagues again and to give a new acceleration to give the possibility to other clubs to create and register their second team not only in Serie Cwhere every year a maximum of one spot is freed up for the repechage. Expanding the possibility of enrolling in Serie D would eliminate many structural problems related to stadiums and would also give great visibility to a competitive championship in which, let’s not forget, footballers who now also play for Juve have grown up, such as Gatti and Cambiaso”.
The last point is about the possibility of creating an U20 championship: “Last season we made the choice to play in the Primavera with a very young group, practically without overage players. The creation of an Under 20 championship will force us this year to have shared management between Next Gen and U20 of players born in 2005. Personally, I am against this reform that raises the average age of a player’s youth sector path and goes against the grain of what happens in almost all other European countries where from the Under 18 you go directly to the second teams”.