Juventus CEO Maurizio Arrivabene gave a lengthy interview to Tuttosport where he touched on Cristiano Ronaldo, Matthijs De Ligt, Paul Pogba and the important of the club coming first over individual players. He began by speaking about CR7 who arrived at the club before Arrivabene was appointed as CEO.
“Ronaldo’s potential wasn’t entirely fulfilled because of COVID. It’s a shame, but I am convinced that Juventus are bigger than any player. It’s a club with precise rules, so the team is always more important than single players. There are rules that everyone must respect here, including me.
Pogba? We are in talks and things are evolving in a very positive way. It all started from a question: why don’t we sign Pogba? The idea, however, is not enough, you always have to put it into practice. You always need to understand if it’s a feasible operation and if it’s sustainable. If the figures make sense, you must present them to the directors. We are talking about important players, clearly.
Dybala? There was an agreement, but after the cash injection, we decided to stop and think. The agents were aware of the situation and agreed with it. We met again and told them that the terms had changed, so starting from a four-year contract, we opted for a different strategy. Everybody knows who we signed in January, correct? (alluding to Vlahovic).
However, this hasn’t created any fracture between Dybala and us. The rapport has always been friendly. I hope Dybala will find a team and the satisfaction that he deserves. From our perspective, everything has a start and an end.
I repeat, Juventus come before everything else. Some players leave a mark, but Juventus will always be more important.
Allegri? We involve him in all the decisions we make, and so he does. He cares a lot about the club’s strategy. It wasn’t easy for anyone, we had to reduce costs, manage the cash injection and decide the future strategy while he had to build a team. Now, we have a united group and we are building something more suitable for him.
Allegri’s Juve? No, it’s everyone’s team. It’s the team we projected all together, we are a united group and we are targeting what we decided together. We don’t have just one plan. If you follow the rumours, we will buy and sell everyone.
“I admit that this transfer word is fascinating. Sometimes I read names of some players on TV, so I call Federico Cherubini, asking him: ‘Are you in talks with this player?
He asks me ‘Are you drunk?!’ Jokes aside, he is surprised. Sometimes, transfers lived from inside the club have comic and almost surreal implications.
De Ligt? We go back to talking about players who follow the advice of agents or colleagues instead of the club.
Today, keeping a player who wants to leave is impossible. It’s not always about the money and if one wants to go, you don’t just tell him: ok, go ahead.
It’s hard to keep a player, but all those sitting at the table of negotiations must be satisfied. Who has the money wins.”
