President Andrea Agnelli said Juventus must have a core of Italian players and shrugged off the “cliché” of help from referees.
The patron spoke to Sky Sport Italia in a lengthy interview this evening and was asked about the Paul Pogba transfer rumours.
“As a fan, I say he is not for sale. As a manager, I say you have to ask Beppe Marotta because he is in charge of the transfer market.
President Andrea Agnelli said Juventus must have a core of Italian players and shrugged off the “cliché” of help from referees.
The patron spoke to Sky Sport Italia in a lengthy interview this evening and was asked about the Paul Pogba transfer rumours.
“As a fan, I say he is not for sale. As a manager, I say you have to ask Beppe Marotta because he is in charge of the transfer market.
“It is fundamental to have a foundation of seven, eight or nine Italian players in the squad. They are those who can perceive the mood of the environment, which means they cannot leave the house without hearing the reaction of the fans.
“Aside from the identity and culture, they also understand the mood of the locker room. For example, the team understood 100 per cent the tragic position we were in at the start of the season and it wouldn’t have happened the same way without those foundations.
“The players probably would’ve continued going out clubbing instead. In terms of having a complete squad, this is the strongest Juve team of recent years. The settling in process at the start was normal, it’s just we didn’t expect it to last that long, but the final result was what we all expected.”
There was so much criticism of Allegri when he was chosen to replace Antonio Conte, but Agnelli was happy to be proved right.
“The rapport with Allegri is excellent, but it was with Antonio Conte too, because from childhood I was able to experience the locker room atmosphere and know what it takes to control it.
“We have directors like Marotta, Pavel Nedved and Fabio Paratici who are in close contact with the team, so I always left them to work with full faith.
“The most difficult moment of my tenure was the six months without a Coach, as Conte was suspended for a long time. After five years people have forgotten, but that was a very difficult time. I always defended Antonio, from the moment I chose him.”
Conte was accused of not alerting authorities to a potential fix at Siena, but was recently cleared in a civil trial.
Juventus are still followed by comments from fans that they are ‘helped’ by referees.
“It is a cliché that will never change. It’s part of the tradition, it doesn’t annoy me. It’s part of the nicknames that fans give each other.
“They used to say the same about Milan in the old days. Quite simply, if you spend 90 per cent of your time in the opposition box, you’ll probably get more penalties than someone who is there only 10 per cent of the time.
“Does the ‘Juventus Style’ still exist? I honestly don’t understand what that is referring to. Is it a type of clothing, a hairstyle? The Juve Style is to win, so yes, it still exists.”