Giuseppe Marotta discusses Juventus’ “evolution” and says there was no way of keeping Carlos Tevez.
The Bianconeri general manager has faced criticism from fans for allowing the likes of Tevez, Andrea Pirlo and Arturo Vidal to leave, and explained his reasoning at the shareholders’ meeting.
“There was a lot of renewal, but it’s not a revolution,” Marotta insisted.
Giuseppe Marotta discusses Juventus’ “evolution” and says there was no way of keeping Carlos Tevez.
The Bianconeri general manager has faced criticism from fans for allowing the likes of Tevez, Andrea Pirlo and Arturo Vidal to leave, and explained his reasoning at the shareholders’ meeting.
“There was a lot of renewal, but it’s not a revolution,” Marotta insisted.
“It’s an evolution due to different factors. We wanted to lower the average age of the squad, therefore we had to take tough decisions in regard to our champions.
“We’ve renewed nearly 50 per cent of the squad, we’ve lowered the average age from 29 to 26. Even in a year of transition we want to win.
“We’ve had a difficult start, beyond our expectations, but injuries have affected [Coach Max] Allegri’s choices.
“Our model is a winning one, in terms of the team and the club. We can’t be influenced by sentiment and satisfaction.
“We couldn’t say no to those who wanted to leave. Tevez told us last January that he wanted to return to Argentina. There was no way of keeping hold of him.
“Carlos wasn’t feeling good, we’re talking about men here, not machines. He asked us politely to let him go, and we made him happy, also because of what he has given us over the years.”
Marotta also reiterated that interest in Schalke’s Julian Draxler was dropped long before he completed a move to Wolfsburg.
“We dropped our interest in Draxler in July, after sounding him out and he expressed a partial desire to move to Italy, but preferred to stay in Germany.”