Cristiano Giuntoli has held his first press conference at Juventus and Lorenzo Bettoni picks ten key quotes from his meeting with the media at the Allianz Stadium.
The Old Lady’s directors discussed Juventus’ strategies and targets during his first press conference in Turin on Tuesday. Two words were pivotal: competitiveness and sustainability.
Giuntoli confirmed that the likes of Leonardo Bonucci, Denis Zakaria and Arthur are on the market, but suggested that USMTN international Weston McKennie could be given a chance by Massimiliano Allegri.
Giuntoli said that he joined Juventus for a long-term project and praised the Livorno-born coach saying that he is the ‘most talented’ person to carry the Juventus project forward.
The former Napoli director added that Juventus will listen to ‘irrefutable’ offers for Federico Chiesa and Dusan Vlahovic revealing that Juventus won’t make new purchases this summer until someone leaves.
He confirmed that ‘rationalising’ the team is a priority right now and that he’ll need to balance competitiveness and sustainability, trying to balance the books.
KEY QUOTES
Chiesa and 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.”
Players on the market and Bonucci – “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.”
Lukaku – “We have taken information from many clubs, but we are relying on Chiesa, Vlahovic, Chiesa and Milik. Fans’ protests? 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.”
Pogba – “His situation is clear, the guy is returning from a difficult season and we are waiting for him. He is fundamental for us, he has experience and quality and we rely on him to mentor the many lads we have.”
Allegri – “Last year was extraordinarily difficult, but with a coach of his level, Juventus had an important season. I think Massimiliano can bring this project forward with quality. We believe that in order to obtain results quality, mentality and discipline are needed and for us, he is the most talented.”
Sustainability – “It will take time to start a virtuous path. Perhaps, sustainability could be an obstacle at the beginning, but in the long run, it will be an advantage. 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.”
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 think we can’t have minimum targets, we must give our best every day. I try to help everyone and Juventus achieve the maximum.”
New signings – “I repeat, we are convinced of having a competitive team with competitive strikers. The market has just started. Giovanni [Manna] and I are collecting information. Right now there won’t be new signings, we are working on sales. We don’t even know how many competitions we’ll play next season.”
Rabiot – “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.
Decisions – “Honestly, I speak with the coach every day. He is happy with the team and believes we must continue developing young players from the NextGen squad. He believes this team has great room for improvement. We speak every day and every decision we take is shared by everyone.