Lowering the wage bill and the average age of the squad, plan B if Thiago Motta hadn’t arrived, Vlahovic’s moment and the regretted Calafiori. This and much more emerged in the long interview that the Juventus Sports Director, Cristiano Giuntolihe granted to the Corriere della Sera. ” “We had to lower the salary and average age of the squad.” A gradual process, which however will have to deal with Juve’s historic objective: to win.
In this regard, Giuntoli also spoke about the teams candidates to win the scudetto: “It’s too early to say, Inter and Napoli are the favourites”. Two factors, identified by the Tuscan manager: Simone Inzaghi’s Inter have the longest team, while at Napoli the combination of an ambitious market and the arrival of Antonio Conte on the bench is to be rewarded. And Juventus? “We have changed a lot, we still don’t know what we can do – Giuntoli dribbles – we are discovering ourselves and there is the curiosity to understand”.
Giuntoli also talks about his long courtship for Thiago Motta
“It’s clear we weren’t the only ones who had our eyes on him.” And in case of refusal? Juventus certainly would not have been caught unprepared. Even if, in fact, it was soon understood that Allegri’s successor would be Motta and no alternative names were ever circulated, the Bianconeri had an alternative ready, a plan B. Which Giuntoli does not reveal entirely, but through some clues : “I won’t mention his name but he is a foreign coach who trained and still trains in Europe.”
The Juventus manager also talks about Dusan Vlahovic’s moment
“A player like him can never be a problem, the renewal is an objective and we will do it. A player who is worth a lot and earns a lot is an asset for us.”
Finally, the regret for Calafiori, a long-time target of Juventus but who moved to Arsenal in the summer
“We have to ask ourselves whether we didn’t have the strength to keep someone like him in Italy. The big teams all signed a defender, but not him.”
In England, together with Calafiori, but on the Liverpool side, he also ended up Federico Chiesa. Deal from the last days of the transfer market, after a summer spent on the sidelines of the technical project of Thiago Motta and Giuntoli himself. Who tells the newspaper how he handled a delicate affair: “We have always been honest, with him and with his entourage. We looked for the best solution for Federico: he is very strong and I wish him the best”.