Juventus Club Focus: Looking ahead to the Bianconeri’s summer mercato

By all indications Juventus are on track for a strong finish to the season. They are currently in first place, and are almost guaranteed to finish in either first or second.

This means that they will automatically qualify for the UEFA Champions’ League next year, their first time in the European competition since the 2009-2010 season. As talented as Antonio Conte’s current side is, they lack two factors needed to truly compete for Champions’ League glory: 1) depth, and 2) a top class forward.

Juve’s midfield and defense are both fine pieces of football machinery, with the defense having allowed the fewest goals in all of Europe. Meanwhile, Claudio Marchisio, Arturo Vidal, and Andrea Pirlo connect in the middle of the pitch to power Juve’s offense forward. The defense is relatively set for depth – Martin Caceres can play all four back line spots – and is only really lacking a back up attacking left back, and perhaps another center-back. Chiellini is usually the go to option in LB aside from Paolo De Ceglie, but Chiellini simply does not have the attacking ability needed to truly execute Conte’s tactics.

While Conte and club director Beppe Marotta may need to turn to the market for their backup left back (they could also choose to keep Reto Ziegler, the Swiss left back who was signed and promptly loaned out last sumer), there are plenty of options for center-back depth in Juve’s Primavera side. Two young center-backs, the Icelandic Hordur Magnusson and the Frenchman Prince Desir-Guano, could make a case for themselves as bench players. They are quite young, and may need further seasoning, but they do provide some in-house possibilities for Conte.

In midfield, Juve could be quite busy. While Manchester United starlet Paul Pogba takes his precious time to decide between his current club and Juventus, the Turin side retains first dibs on Cagliari midfielder Radja Nainggolan this summer. Cagliari’s president Massimo Cellino has spoken of a ‘pact of honor’ about Naingolan’s possible transfer between himself and Marotta. Of course, there is the chance that neither of those deals go through. Pogba could pick Man United, and Juventus could opt not to sign Nainggolan. It’s a pretty safe bet, however, that Juve will be in the market for a ‘vice-Pirlo’, and perhaps a ‘vice-Vidal’ as well. Again, Luca Marrone (who has made a handful of appearances this season for Juve) provides a youthful in-house option for midfield depth, although Conte will probably need more than one more midfielder.

There’s also the other side of transfers, those going out. The only player certain to leave Juventus is Milos Krasic, the man who was once supposed to be Juve’s savior but has now become an afterthought in Conte’s Juventus. Some supporters believe that we will also see Eljero Elia part from Turin. His sheer scarcity in terms of match appearances may make a pretty strong case for his departure, but Conte has claimed in press conferences that Elia is making great strides in training. We will see if those strides are towards the pitch or towards the exit door over the summer. Loaned out players Felipe Melo and Reto Ziegler will also probably be officially taken off the books, but they are merely financial footnotes at this point.

I am glossing over one, probably all but certain, departure. That of Alessandro Del Piero. I wrote about his coming departure in greater depth in last week’s club focus, and I also made a case for his re-signing. Regardless of the argument for or against his re-signing, the odds are now against it. Del Piero seems to be getting ready to move on, and in a recent interview with Vanity Fair Italia, he seemed pretty conclusive when talking about the impending expiration of his contract. In terms of the squad roster, no more Del Piero means less forward depth.

However, the arrival of another striker (or two), would alleviate the depth problems created by Del Piero’s exit. As of now, even without the club captain, Juventus have Alessandro Matri, Fabio Quagliarella and Mirko Vucinic to count on up top. Neither of the three have consistently proven to be top-level finishers this year, and Juventus has at times been in desperate need of such a player. This will undoubtedly be Juve’s biggest priority during the summer, and don’t be surprised if you see Juve linked with almost all of the noted strikers who may or may not be on the move.

Plenty of big names have been passed around as possible signings for Juve, but we don’t need to think about specific players to understand what kind of striker Juve need. They need a strong prima punta who can play the ball to teammates, and also capitalize on even the most mundane chances with great flair and finishing. Everyone and their mother has an opinion on which player best fits that description, but that’s more or less what the Juve management will be looking for.

With a few more additions, mostly in terms of squad depth, Conte could put together a side built for a deep European run. It would be another nice accomplishment in an already impressive tenure at Juventus for Conte. First of course, he must finish this season’s Scudetto battle against A.C. Milan. Sunday against Roma stands as one of Juve’s last big challenges, and an important place for them to regain their momentum after a week without matches.

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