Juventus midfielder Fabio Miretti reveals he wore Xavi’s Barcelona jersey to his trial for the Bianconeri and hopes to set an example for future talents coming through the academy.
The Bianconeri’s growing dependence on their youth development was examined in a lengthy article by The Athletic, who outlined how becoming the first club in Italy to take up the option of having a second team in Serie C really boosted their prospects.
Traditionally, Juve hardly ever saw homegrown talents make it all the way through the academy to the senior squad, as instead they tended to be loaned out or sold to raise funds for star names.
That was the situation when Miretti had his trial for the club at the age of eight, so he looked for inspiration to Barcelona instead.
“I’ve always been a Juventus fan,” Miretti told The Athletic.
“You could wear whatever you wanted. They didn’t give you the Juventus kit, so I went in a Barcelona jersey with ‘Xavi’ on the back. It was a gift. My first memories of going on trial are bound up in that jersey.”
That was in 2011 and the only players at Juventus at the time who came up through the ranks were Claudio Marchisio, Paolo De Ceglie and Sebastian Giovinco, but of those three, only the midfielder really made a lasting impact in Turin.
“Let’s say Marchisio was the role model. Everyone wanted to emulate him. It had happened for him and De Ceglie and Sebastian Giovinco. But it didn’t happen to many players. You hoped to be one of the few to make it to the first team. You saw it as a dream.”
Now Miretti is 20 years old and has made over 50 competitive appearances for the Juventus senior squad, but he is part of a wider network of 31 debutants from the academy over the past six seasons.
It is absolutely no coincidence that this started to happen after the Juventus Next Gen was set up, the first club in Italy to take advantage of the rule change allowing effectively a ‘reserve’ team to compete in the third division against much older opponents.
“In Italy, people think you’ve got a good academy if you’re winning titles at under-16, under-17 or Primavera level, but it’s not like that,” adds Miretti.
“Juventus have come to understand that it’s not about how much you win at academy level — it’s about how ready your players are to play in the big leagues and how soon they can graduate.
“In the year I was with the Primavera, I was already making a few appearances for the Next Gen. My first impression of Serie C was that it was more physical. There’s less intensity in Primavera, so there’s room for more skill as you have more time to think and try things.
“In Serie C, everything’s quicker. I was 17 or 18 at the time and you’re playing against guys who are much older and stronger. In Primavera, almost everyone’s the same height and size. You can hold them off easier.”
They all train together at the Continassa camp and the coaches work side by side, trying to have more or less the same tactical approach, so it is easier to simply shift players over to the senior squad when needed.
Atalanta were the second Italian club to create a reserve team, with Milan and Roma reportedly making plans to follow suit.
Juventus set up a B team, Juventus Next Gen, in 2018 to compete in Serie C.
In the period since, they have handed out 31 senior debuts to academy graduates.
— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) March 20, 2024
Let’s wait and see, until we sell him to fund us signing so-called “star players.” Huuuft …..