New Juventus sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli confirmed that the club would listen to ‘irrefutable offers’ for Dusan Vlahovic and Federico Chiesa. The new Bianconeri director gave his first official press conference earlier today and touched on a number of subjects, including the future of current squad and coach Max Allegri, as well as outlining his plans for next season:
“Good morning, first of all thank you for being present here. First I wanted to thank President De Laurentiis and Chiavelli, because 8 years ago they gave me a great chance. I want to thank Napoli, the city and the players.”
Impressions of the first days at Juve?
“I am very happy because I had an extraordinary welcome from everyone. I found great quality in all areas, they all made themselves very available.”
What do you think you give to Juventus and what goals has the club given you in the short and medium – long term?
“Honestly I from the outside don’t think about other people’s problems, so from the outside I don’t know. And I’ve been waiting to see certain things, but in the end it’s what to do from here on out that counts. What I’ve been asked by the club is to get back to being competitive and get back to being sustainable, because the world goes on that way. We have to take a look at the accounts and also take a look at the history of Juventus and get back to being in great competitiveness with everything else in the world. I don’t know what I can give but, my history speaks quite clearly, I did 6 years at one club and 8 at another, so I’ve been a manager for many years but my prerogative is to do a lot with what I have at my disposal , I’ve proven it over the years and I try to bring my experience to this prestigious club.”
Will you focus on youth?
“I have just arrived. But the club has already moved in an extraordinary way because in June they confirmed, and it was not easy and obvious, Rabiot who is one of the strongest midfielders in the world. He has been playing for France for years. They got Weah who is a footballer of great perspective and great talent. And they redeemed Milik. So right now Juventus has already done most of the market. Right now we have so many players, in so many positions and we have to rationalize the roster . So those are the priorities. So putting clarity, dictating the line and rationalizing the roster . Then getting the young players is very important. But always remember that we have to find a balance between sustainability and competitiveness. Competitiveness is achieved with talent, youth and experience. We have to mix these things.”
Can you make a point about players like Zakaria, McKennie, Bonucci and Arthur who are considered out of the project?
“McKennie out of the project? I don’t know if you have heard about it in the papers, we never said that. Right now there are guys working on the side who are on the market and guys who are part of the project. Right now, we are negotiating Zakaria with a couple of clubs. We are discussing Arthur with a couple of clubs and on Bonucci, we are discussing him with other clubs but right now we have not found anything that he likes.”
Is Lukaku a move you would have called ‘Giuntoli-like’ a while ago?
“Here we have to clear the field: there will be no Giuntoli-like, Allegri-like or Manna-like moves, but there will be Juventus-like moves. We have to return to a sustainable market, but also a competitive one, and this will be a mix of talented youngsters and experienced people. Regarding the player you mentioned, Giovanni and I are sounding out the market and we talk so many clubs and so many players, but we are intaking information then afterwards the newspapers talk on it, but as you see we are focusing so much on Vlahovic, very strong on Chiesa, on Kean and Milik.”
Are you called to make an evolution or a revolution of the club?
“I don’t know. I haven’t thought about that. I just know that I was put in a system of great managers who were already changing the path of Juventus and I think I can become together with them and cohesive with them, an added value. Of course it will take some time. Because anyway I believe that my arrival is not an event but a path.”
Lukaku, in the past, has said never to Juve. Do you feel comfortable saying that? Never say never?
“I repeat we are convinced that we have a very competitive team…. Right now I don’t feel like saying anything because the market has just started. Giovanni and I are really at the first intake of information about everything. Juventus’ inbound market right now is finished because we have to rationalize the roster because we have so many players. In this we don’t know how many competitions we will play in and we are working on exits, as you know, and just we are not thinking about anything else.”
If an offer came in for Vlahovic would it be considered?
“It’s no secret that we need to fix the accounts. We strongly bet on him, though. But of course in front of irrefutable offers we can think about it. But technically we strongly bet on him.”
Have you had a chance to meet Pogba? Is he still central to the project?
“Pogba’s situation seems clear to me: the boy is coming back from a troubled year. However, he has a great desire to return, we are waiting for him. For us, such a player is fundamental, because he has quality, he already has experience. In short, he has been here for many years. He knows the environment. He is a Lui player that we are banking on to motivate the many young players.”
Have you set a minimum goal for yourselves?
“We , in my opinion, must not set minimum goals, we must do our best. Every day. I am here, I try to do my best, I ask a lot of myself and I try to help others to do their best so that Juve can do their best.”
Do Chiesa and Vlahovic match the sustainability talks?
“We have to find the right balance. For us they are unsellable. But obviously having to find that balance that I talked about, we have to think about it. We are banking on them. Then if irrefutable offers come in we sit back and think about it because we have to get the balance right.”
