Italian international Federico Bernardeschi officially joined Juventus from Fiorentina yesterday in a €40m transfer.
The 23-year-old received a rapturous welcome in Turin, but there have been questions over where he’ll fit into the Bianconeri’s plans.
Following the completion of the deal, Football Italia breaks down the different facets of the deal.
Words: Elio Salerno
Italian international Federico Bernardeschi officially joined Juventus from Fiorentina yesterday in a €40m transfer.
The 23-year-old received a rapturous welcome in Turin, but there have been questions over where he’ll fit into the Bianconeri’s plans.
Following the completion of the deal, Football Italia breaks down the different facets of the deal.
Words: Elio Salerno
What will Bernardeschi bring to Juve?
Federico Bernardeschi is a dynamic and versatile attacker, he is a player capable of filling multiple attacking roles and in Max Allegri’s 4-2-3-1 this could provide the team with an extra dimension. He is a player that is happy to play wide, drift in side or play as a more classic 10 between the opposition lines. Heavily left footed, Bernardeschi has all the tools to be the complete modern day forward. He can play as a direct winger where he is happy to use his speed and dribbling ability to go past defenders, his technical quality means he can combine with teams mate and create goal scoring opportunities, he also has an eye for goal and is not afraid to fire shots from distance. Dangerous at set pieces, he will face tough competition from Paulo Dybala and Miralem Pjanic, for free-kicks. The trio will certainly keep goalkeepers occupied, and that gives Juventus a wealth of riches at set pieces.
Where can he improve?
There is no doubt “Berna” will enhance the Juventus attack, but it is the other side of the game he will need to build on. The player will be all too aware of the likely defensive duties he will be given at Juventus, he has previously shown that he is more than capable of taking on these responsibilities. Last season’s meeting between Fiorentina and Juventus at the Artemio Fanchi highlighted this, as the player excellently marshalled Juventus midfield man Claudio Marchisio preventing the number 8 from controlling possession as he often does.
Choosing to sign for Juventus shows Bernardeschi is ready for the challenge. As a player developing through the ranks at Fiorentina he will be well aware of the dislike La Viola fans have for the Turin outfit. Bernardeschi will come under heavy fire from fans who believed he would become a symbol of their club, a potential Fiorentina legend. Understanding all this, the player still chose to make the will trodden road between Florence and Turin,wanting the challenge of playing for the best club in Italy. This takes a strong mentality and self-belief both of which he will need in order to make this move succeed. With such a big fee for a young player Juventus have already shown how much they believe in the player, it will be up to him to repay the faith shown.
Attack Attack Attack…
Juventus fans will be excited by the prospect of seeing their attack powered by Douglas Costa, Paulo Dybala, Fede Bernardeschi and Gonzalo Higuain – the makeup of these four players means the Juventus attack now has variety, flexibility and quality from all angles and has all the ingredients to become one of the best attacking forces in Europe.
A mid-season switch to the 4-2-3-1 left Max Allegri short on attacking options, but along with those mentioned above the Mister can still call on Mario Mandzukic, Marko Pjaca, Juan Cuadrado and Moise Kean. With rumours that a move for Patrik Schick is still possible Juventus are certainly not lacking attacking options going into the new season. Naturally we will see some question if this this affects Paulo Dybala and his possible departure, Juventus are heavily backing Max Allegri and sacrificing their Argentinian star will not be in the managers plans.
Are we seeing a Juventus re-balance? Is the manager planning an attack first mind-set for the coming season? While I certainly don’t expect Allergi to forget how important the defensive phase of the game is he simply cannot ignore the attacking talent available to him now and how unleashing them could give Juventus a completely new dimension.
This new look attack has an interesting quirk, with Costa, Dybala & Bernardeschi lining up together it would see three left footed players making up the attack and could see Juventus line up with five at one time (Giorgio Chiellini and Alex Sandro being the other two). Would this three man left-footed attack mean Juventus are more predictable or unpredictable? It’s hard to think of any team in Europe that would be built with this many left-footed players in the line-up, if we do see this it will certainly be something to keep an eye on as the season progresses.
The Juventus fans have been waiting for their next Italian fantasista, a new number 10 to worship – could Bernardeschi be the man they have been waiting for?