Cristiano Giuntoli insists Juventus rely on Federico Chiesa and Dusan Vlahovic but will listen to ‘irrefutable offers’ for the pair given that the Bianconeri must balance the books.
Giuntoli was officially unveiled at a press conference on Tuesday.
“Let me start by thanking Aurelio De Laurentiis and Andrea Chiavelli who gave me a great opportunity eight years ago. I also want to thank Napoli, the city and their players,” he said.
Juventus finished the last two seasons empty-handed and with losses of over €200m, so Giuntoli was asked which are his short and long-term targets.
“Juventus have demanded me to be competitive and sustainable because that’s how the world works.
“At the same time, we need to bring Juventus back to the top. My priority is to give a lot with what I have at my disposal. I’ve found an extraordinary environment with competent people.
“Juventus directors did a great job before I arrived. The club confirmed Rabiot who is one of the best midfielders in the world, they signed Weah who has great potential, and signed Milik on a permanent deal.
“Surely we need to rationalise the team, it will be important to sign young players for the future, but we need a balance between competitiveness and sustainability.”
Denis Zakaria, Arthur and Leonardo Bonucci are among the players on the market, but Giuntoli denied that Weston McKennie is out of the project.
“We’ve never said McKennie is out of the project, right now there are players on the market. We are in talks with a couple of clubs for Zakaria, same as Arthur and Leonardo but we haven’t found anything that suits him [Bonucci] yet.”
Arthur is expected to leave soon with Fiorentina on the verge of getting the Brazilian on loan with an option to buy.
“As I already said, we must make a sustainable and competitive market, so there will be a mix of talented young players and experienced players,” continued Giuntoli.
Juventus are reportedly ready to part ways with Dusan Vlahovic and sign Romelu Lukaku from Chelsea.
“We have taken information from many clubs, but we are relying on Chiesa, Vlahovic, Chiesa and Milik,” said Giuntoli.
However, this doesn’t mean Vlahovic and Chiesa will surely stay in Turin beyond the summer.
“It’s not a secret that we must balance the books,” said Giuntoli, replying to a question about the Serbia international.
“Of course, if there are irrefutable offers, we must think about it. Technically, we strongly rely on him [Vlahovic.]
“We must find the right balance. They [Chiesa and Vlahovic] are unsellable for us. Right now we rely on them, but if we receive irrefutable offers we sit down and talk because we need to balance the books.”
Giuntoli was asked one more question about the possible signing of Lukaku and whether the fans’ opposition to his signing would persuade Juventus not to go ahead.
“I haven’t thought about it. As I said we are collecting information, but we are not thinking about the consequences of something that is not happening.”
- Read more – part 2: Giuntoli reveals Juventus’ stance on Pogba and his view on Allegri
When will they listen to offers for allegri ?