Juventus entered the season hoping that Luciano Spalletti’s authority and a busy late summer would give a changing squad a clearer direction. Instead, as injuries mount and old doubts return, the club find themselves confronting familiar questions: a shortage of goals, an unsettled hierarchy and a transfer policy that has not yet supplied the weight required for difficult afternoons.
Key takeaways
- Juventus sit one point below Igor Tudor’s side at the same stage last season, despite facing Europa League rather than Champions League opposition in midweek.
- Spalletti has lost Kenan Yildiz, Manuel Locatelli, Khephren Thuram and Kamil Grabara to injuries requiring surgery.
- The club brought in 10 players during the summer, including Randal Kolo Muani in a deal worth €38 million plus €12 million in add-ons.
- Guglielmo Vicario, borrowed after Juventus failed in several goalkeeper pursuits, has emerged as the most convincing addition.
- Edon Zhegrova is unavailable for Thursday’s Europa League visit of Rennes because he was omitted from the UEFA squad list.
A summer that did not settle the coach
Spalletti’s recent irritation did not begin with his confrontation with Cagliari coach Fabio Pisacane, nor with his exchange with Bremer after the Lazio defeat. It was already visible in July, when a slow start to the transfer window had left Juventus with only Ekhator and the free-agent Celik added to the group.
During a training session, the coach told his players: “Raise the tempo. I am staying, but many of you will not.” The message reflected his concern, although it was not welcomed by every member of the squad.
The following 40 days changed the scale of Juventus’ work, if not all of its underlying problems. Kolo Muani arrived from Paris Saint-Germain for €38 million plus a possible €12 million, while Alajbegovic joined from Bayer Leverkusen for €30 million. Jhon Lucumi came from Bologna, Vicario from Tottenham, Grabara from Wolfsburg, Sarr from Tottenham, Woltemade from Newcastle, and Neto signed after becoming available on a free transfer. Excluding redemption clauses, the outlay exceeded €100 million.
There were ten additions in all, but the recruitment did not entirely follow Spalletti’s wishes. Lucumi was a player he strongly wanted, and Juventus spent €19.5 million despite the defender’s Bologna contract running only until 2027. The bigger concern lay further forward. Vlahovic’s departure as a free agent was not followed by the arrival of a comparable specialist centre-forward.
Kolo Muani represented a major investment and Woltemade was eventually taken on loan, but neither transaction gave Spalletti the orthodox No. 9 he had sought. The squad also gained only two Italian players among the ten newcomers, while the coach felt the group remained short of established personalities and leaders.
Spalletti had hoped for a more experienced international profile in several areas: Andy Robertson at left-back on a free transfer; either Franck Kessie or Leon Goretzka in midfield; Bernardo Silva or Brahim Diaz behind the forwards; and, above all, a recognised striker. Chief executive Giovanni Carnevali and his close aides, Massara and Ottolini, chose a different route while operating under the UEFA settlement agreement.
Financial restrictions explain part of the picture, but Juventus also completed the summer without a significant sale, an unusual outcome in the modern era. Their best return came through the 50 per cent resale clause attached to Tarik Muharemovic’s move to Leeds, a dividend from Carnevali’s previous work at Sassuolo.
Even relatively quiet summers had previously brought one notable departure: Diego joined Wolfsburg for €15 million in 2010, one year after arriving from Werder Bremen, while Denis Zakaria moved to Monaco for €20 million in 2023 after an unconvincing Chelsea loan and a further six months in Turin. Neither was a low-wage player, making the absence of a major exit this time more striking.
The goalkeeping reshuffle was equally unusual. Juventus signed three keepers in one window for the first time in their history: Vicario, Grabara and Neto. Yet Michele Di Gregorio, now a Bournemouth substitute, is the only one under permanent Juventus ownership. After unsuccessful approaches for Alisson, Emiliano Martinez and Zion Suzuki, Vicario arrived on loan and has become a positive figure: an Italy international, a visible leader and a lifelong Juventus supporter willing to speak after defeats.
Old patterns beneath a new project
Spalletti publicly backed the signings after winning a June power struggle with former chief executive Comolli, but the consequences are now clearer. Juventus have one fewer point than they did under Tudor before the Croatian was dismissed in October and replaced by the former Italy coach. Tudor, however, was balancing league football with Champions League fixtures against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu, Villarreal and Borussia Dortmund; Spalletti’s European calendar has included NEC and Celta in the Europa League.
The injuries to Yildiz, Thuram, Locatelli and Grabara are a substantial mitigating factor. Still, Juventus again lack a dependable scorer for difficult matches, a substantial Italian core capable of carrying the club’s identity, and enough senior voices when the crowd turns restless. Those deficiencies were exposed in the heavy loss to Lazio, the occasion that prompted Bremer’s reaction.
Carnevali joined Juventus only in mid-June and does not claim to possess an instant remedy. He recognises errors have been made, including in recruitment, but also understands that rebuilding a title-winning Juventus cannot be achieved in one window. Andrea Agnelli, Beppe Marotta and Fabio Paratici needed three transfer periods, as well as the appointment of Antonio Conte, to restore the club to the Serie A summit and to European relevance.
Conte is currently free and lives in Turin, but repeating the old market coups will be difficult. The January 2011 signing of Andrea Barzagli for €300,000, or the summer deals that brought Andrea Pirlo on a free transfer and Arturo Vidal for €10.5 million, offer more history than a practical blueprint for 2027.
Juventus have not won the Scudetto since 2020, the final title in their run of nine straight, secured under Maurizio Sarri. Across the changes of executives and coaches since then, another theme has persisted: players dismissed under one administration often find value under the next, whether elsewhere or in Turin.
Locatelli arrived during the Arrivabene-Cherubini period and was initially judged too quickly, including by Massimiliano Allegri, who preferred Leandro Paredes. He later became a central figure and captain under different leadership. His current absence, alongside that of Yildiz, the squad’s standout player and another Cherubini-era arrival, has been costly for Spalletti.
Weston McKennie, signed under Fabio Paratici, spent years being treated as surplus before becoming another trusted player for the current coach. Meanwhile, Nico Gonzalez and Douglas Luiz, associated with Cristiano Giuntoli’s 2024 summer, were rejected by Comolli but reassessed by Carnevali. Gonzalez has recently been given a new contract.
Jonathan David and Zhegrova were judged expendable during the Comolli period. David took the chance to join Atletico Madrid, where Diego Simeone has used him in a two-striker pairing. Spalletti has only turned to such a setup in recent desperate moments. The Canadian has rediscovered his Lille form, scoring three times for Atletico and once for Canada, while contributing two assists for the Spanish club.
Woltemade has two goals and has shown his best moments when paired in a double-centre-forward arrangement, the same solution David had wanted. Zhegrova, for his part, resisted a departure in both August and September. Juventus could not move him on and excluded him from the UEFA list. He has since scored twice for the club and added a goal and an assist for Kosovo.
That decision becomes more painful on Thursday. Rennes arrive at the Allianz Stadium with Francisco Conceicao also absent after dislocating his shoulder, an injury expected to keep him out for a month. Zhegrova’s European ineligibility leaves Spalletti with one fewer option at precisely the moment Juventus need their altered squad to begin looking like a coherent team.
