Last season was disappointing in multiple ways for Juventus but ultimately it could have gone a lot worse.
The football was absolutely turgid for almost the entirety of the campaign but they did manage to get Champions League football again and they even looked like having a sniff at the title at one stage after some very impressive form after Christmas.
Many fans were getting unhappy with Massimiliano Allegri’s way of setting up his team which, at times, did feel like an assault on the senses. That sort of football is much easier to justify if you’re at the top of the league. If you’re fighting for fourth, people’s patience starts to wear thin.
He weathered the storm though and did start to get results. The plan next season needs to be a significantly stronger start and a bit more free reign for the creative players in the team. Crucially, there are more of them this season than last.
Juventus transfers: Signings and sales
Juventus have made three really exciting signings this summer so far and two of them were without a transfer fee. The wages will weigh heavily on the accounts but by adding Paul Pogba and Angel Di Maria to the squad, the technical quality has been raised a lot.
They are both match winners in their own right, particularly the Argentine. He brings a huge amount of experience and he will bring some personality to a side that was really lacking it last season.
In terms of Paul Pogba, he certainly raises the level of the midfield. Juve have too many players who do a similar job in midfield but Pogba can be the creator-in-chief next season. The caveat here is that he has picked up a serious injury and is set to miss a sizeable chunk of the campaign.
There has been a big change in defence as well. Matthijs de Ligt has been sold to Juventus for a fee that should rise to €80 million with the add-ons included. They may regret that deal down the line as he is undoubtedly talented and has done a very solid job in Turin with a team that plays a very different way to Ajax where he came from.
His replacement is Gleison Bremer from Torino who was the Serie A defender of the year last season. The Brazilian looked destined to sign for Inter but they could not come up with the funds and had their move hijacked by the Bianconeri immediately after the De Ligt sale.
Giorgio Chiellini is no longer a part of the squad after his deal expired so that is a lot of experience and leadership to lose. Paulo Dybala is no longer at the club and neither is Federico Bernardeschi. Aaron Ramsey is also out of the picture and Adrien Rabiot could be on his way out too.
Alvaro Morata has returned to Atletico Madrid yet again but Juve are trying to get him back on a permanent deal. Another deal that could materialise is Filip Kostic from Eintracht Frankfurt. The Serbian would make a lot of sense for the Bianconeri as left-back is a position of weakness.
Another important factor ahead of the new campaign is that Federico Chiesa will be back in the picture after a very long injury lay-off. He will be raring to go and will effectively feel like a new signing for many Juve fans. There are gaps in the squad in terms of depth but the De Ligt sale makes it much easier to plug those gaps from a financial standpoint.
Juventus season expectations
The stated aim for Juventus going into any Serie A campaign is to win the Scudetto and that will certainly be the case this season.
They have definitely strengthened the squad and Allegri should have learned a lot about his players in the previous campaign.
Dusan Vlahovic has now had a pre-season with the team and he should be getting significantly better service during the new campaign than he was last season. If he does not get over 20 goals in the league, he will be disappointed and so will a lot of other people.
Their window seems like it has been enough to bridge the gap to Inter and Milan. It may well have done enough to even surpass the Milan sides. It may be boring, but Juve could be back at the top come next June.
