Notable Signings
Federico
Bernardeschi: ACF Fiorentina -> Full Transfer (£36m)
Blaise Matuidi: Paris
Saint-Germain -> Full Transfer (£18m)
Medhi Benatia: Bayern
Munich -> Full Transfer (£15.30m)
Wojciech Szczesny:
Arsenal FC -> Full Transfer (£10.98m)
Mattia De Sciglio:
AC Milan -> Full Transfer (£10.80m)
Rodrigo Bentancur:
Boca Juniors -> Full Transfer (£9.45m)
Douglas Costa: Bayern
Munich -> Loan (£5.40m)
Benedikt Höwedes:
FC Schalke 04 -> Loan (£3.15m)
Notable
departures
Leonardo Bonucci: AC Milan -> Full Transfer (£37.80m)
Mario Lemina: Southampton -> Full Transfer (£15.30m)
Simone Zaza: Valencia -> Full Transfer (£14.40m)
Tomás Rincón: Torino -> Loan (£2.70m)
Neto: Valencia
-> Full Transfer (£5.40m)
Dani Alves: Paris
Saint-Germain -> Full Transfer (Free)
It was yet another
summer where a big name left the club this time the surprise departure of Leonardo
Bonucci, which on closer inspection shouldn’t be that much of a surprise given
the clashes with manager Allegri last season. However, his destination &
transfer fee was a shock to fans, leaving Juventus for big spending AC Milan. Also
leaving after only one season playing in Turin was Dani Alves, on a free
transfer to Paris Saint-Germain.
But it wasn’t all bad
news on the transfer front as Juventus would strengthen their attacking options
on the field, a position the team clearly needed when striker Mario Mandzukic
was deployed as one of three attacking midfielders when Allegri switched to a
4-2-3-1 formation last season. Instead Juventus can now rely on Bernardeschi
& Douglas Costa to compete or eventually replace one of Mandzukic &
Cuadrado in the starting line-up. At times, last season Juventus relied heavily
on Dybala for creativity and as already seen in his two brief appearance’s so
far Douglas Costa will provide some much needed creativity going forward from
the wide areas. Something that Mandzukic isn’t known for and with Cuadrado only producing such moments in brief flashes. We are yet to see much of Bernardeschi
in a Juventus shirt but given what we have seen from his Fiorentina days this
should be an exciting signing and hopefully one we see more of once Allegri
finally introduces him into the line up.
With more attack minded players signed Juventus could now
divert there attention to a much needed central midfielder, although it would
be a position that wasn’t addressed until 15days before the transfer window
closed with the signing of Blaise Matuidi on a relatively low fee of £18m
(considering Barcelona spent €40m on Paulinho). On paper Matuidi wasn’t the
exciting name Juventus fans would have hoped for but exciting is not what
Juventus needed in central midfield to play alongside Pjanic. A solid defensive
midfielder is what Juventus needed and that is what Juventus have got.
Back to where I started, the defence. With the departures of
Bonucci & Alves Juventus needed to at least increase the numbers in
defence. Most specifically at right back which was something Juventus needed
anyway regardless if Dani Alves remained. To address this Juventus signed Mattia
De Sciglio and in return De Sciglio put in a woeful debut performance against
Lazio in the super cup & even contributed to the deciding goal in a 3-2
defeat. Since then Lichsteiner has returned to RB in the opening games and only
time will tell how De Sciglio reacts. Fans felt with Bonucci departure that a
new centre back was needed but was it really with Chiellini, Barzagli, Benatia
and Rugani already part of the squad? It is the latter who could benefit the
most with Bonucci departure and with Juventus fans wanting the young defender
given more first team game time this is more likely the season we see more of
Rugani in the heart of Juventus defence. A new centre back was however signed.
A world cup winning defender in Benedikt Höwedes. A signing I was very happy
with for the reason being how versatile the German is. He can play all over
defence LB,CB,RB and this will be an absolute blessing for Juventus as no doubt
down the long hard road of a season the likes of Barzagli, Lichsteiner and even
Chiellini will either need a rest or worse suffer an injury.
Overall for me, this was a good transfer window for Juventus. Dealing with the Bonucci situation so quickly the rumour turned to reality in the blink of an eye. Clearing out bit part players like Lemina & Rincón whilst bringing in some big additions such as Douglas Costa and a versatile defender in Höwedes shouldnt leave Juventus fans too disapointed going into the season ahead
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