Andrea Agnelli feels Juventus achievements ‘didn’t get the right recognition’ last season, but he’s glad after decades they finally share the Serie A business vision with Inter and Milan.

The Bianconeri won their ninth consecutive Serie A title, yet sacked coach Maurizio Sarri just days later.

Andrea Agnelli feels Juventus achievements ‘didn’t get the right recognition’ last season, but he’s glad after decades they finally share the Serie A business vision with Inter and Milan.

The Bianconeri won their ninth consecutive Serie A title, yet sacked coach Maurizio Sarri just days later.

“It was bittersweet. On and off the pitch. We achieved great results and got unexpected disappointments,” said Agnelli in his press conference, attended by Football Italia.

“In January we launched a €300m capital increase that had three targets: maintain sporting competitiveness, increase brand visibility with a medium-term investment plan and financial consolidation. But we used that money in a way we didn’t expect to [due to Covid].”

The virus has also hit the club directly, with several cases including Weston McKennie and Cristiano Ronaldo.

“Pavel Nedved and Federico Cherubini are here, Fabio Paratici has entered the bubble with the team after a new confirmed case. They all deserve the praise for what we achieved last season.

“The ninth consecutive Serie A title didn’t find the right recognition from us, from the fans and others but I am convinced that in a few years everyone will understand what we’ve done.

“There is, however, disappointment, for the two Finals we lost. It still burns like the elimination from the Champions League.

“Sarri is a great person, cultured and with a sense of humour, with many interests in addition to football which is his first passion, so I am extremely happy that he won the championship with us.

“However, inside the locker room there must be an alchemy that leads to overcome obstacles that may seem insurmountable. This alchemy was not created with the whole environment. He brought the Scudetto cup to the museum and he will forever be remembered as one of the winning coaches of Juventus.

“Off the pitch, before this situation, there were results in line with expectations: revenues from sponsors that have reached €130m and Juventus’ image on Instagram where we are the most followed Italian brand with 2.2 million more than Gucci.”

Agnelli, who is also the President of ECA and a member of the Uefa Committee, explained how the whole world of football is and will be hugely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“After 20 years of continuous growth of the system for the first time the turnover of European football is in sharp decrease, it’s an exogenous factor, but this is a situation that we will have to manage. About 350 clubs will need capital increase in the next 12-24 months for an effect of about €6bn. Juventus had already done it in January.

“If I try to take a positive outlook too, opportunities, technological changes and strengths of the sector remain, we must manage this year and the following years by reviewing growth strategies. These strengths continue to look at the growth that will continue to be driven by the clubs.”

Earlier this week, Serie A voted yes for the entry of investment funds and thus CVC Capital Partners when the Assembly met today.

“There was no entry of funds. The League gave a month to analyse the proposal of CVC. In this month there will still be many insights and a lot of work. Personally, I hope that this work will lead to new entries, especially on the management side.

“I’ve been going to via Rosellini for 10 years and in these years nothing has changed. I wish the entry of CVC, which, if we were normal people, we would not need to develop our business.”

The Old Lady’s President had a meeting at Casa Milan two weeks ago to discuss the development plans of Serie A with Inter and Milan.

“For the first time since I am the Juventus President Milan, Inter and us have the same interests. I am grateful to Mr. Zhang and Paul Singer of the Elliott Fund. If we put our business strategies at the service of the Serie A, this cannot fail, whether we develop the plan or if it’s developed by a third party.”

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