Juventus are hatching a plan to sign Napoli sporting director Cristiano Guintoli who has been responsible for the signing of players such as Victor Osimhen and Khvicha Kvataskhelia for the Azzurri in recent years.
The Bianconeri saw their entire board resign recently amid investigations into capital gains and wage deferments, which means that there is a new president in town and current sporting director, Federico Cherubini, could be replaced by an external hire.
Juventus may well be looking at the quality squad that Luciano Spalletti currently has at Napoli, sitting eight points clear at the top of Serie A, and wondering whether they ought to take the perceived mastermind behind it, as reported by Calciomercato.com.
Juventus identify Guintoli for market success
The Bianconeri actually had contact with Cristiano Guintoli around a year ago after Fabio Paratici left the club for Tottenham Hotspur.
They have been following his work very closely over the past few months in particular, perhaps in the knowledge that a legal storm was on its way and there would need to be changes of personnel.
The Napoli squad is full of players that now look to be worth much more than what Napoli paid for them, which is essentially a sporting director’s currency. Guintoli is known for making huge changes when he arrives at a club and then using the budget extremely frugally.
He arrived at Carpi in 2009 and immediately got rid of over 10 players. In the next six years, he took them from Serie D to Serie A. His talent ID is superb, such as when he signed Kevin Lasagna in Serie D for €11,000, a player who has now been a regular in Serie A for years.
Guintoli’s work at Napoli
Cristiano Guintoli has now been at Napoli for seven years but it is particularly in this latest campaign that he is really receiving plaudits. He uncovered Khvicha Kvaratskhelia from Rubin Kazan for €10 million. The Georgian is already valued at €60 million by Transfermarkt having got eight goals and 10 assists in 17 games in a new country.
Another player that was shown faith by Guintoli is Piotr Zielinski, who is now a vital player in the Napoli midfield having joined for €15 million. He is expected to fetch a fee in the region of €40-50 million were he to leave now.
Fabian Ruiz joined Napoli in 2018 for €30 million and whilst he ended up being sold at a €7 million loss, the quality and output he brought to Napoli made the deal more than worthwhile.
The most expensive deal was of course the €70 million to sign Victor Osimhen from Lille, but now he is a star player and one that will fetch over €100 million if sold in the near future. Other smart deals in the past two seasons include Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa for €15 million, Kim Min-jae for less than €20 million, and the smart signings of Giovanni Simeone and Giacomo Raspadori.
