After Ronaldo's departure, Juventus plays with a new strategy

After the departure of Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo and an attempt to replace him with striker Moise Kean, Juventus is showing a new strategy by moving away from expensive contracts in return for investing more in young talent, which reflects a new economic approach, but at the same time a real sporting option.

After the "Old Lady" team started the season in light of the uncertainty about the future of its Portuguese star returning to Manchester United, "Juve", led by his old coach - new Massimiliano Allegri, faces quick and important tests that will show the correctness of the choices he made, so that he will face the fierce Napoli Saturday before he... Milan receives on September 19 in the Italian league, in addition to the start of the group stage of the Champions League to face the Swedish Malmo next Tuesday.

After Ronaldo's departure, the Italian club will lose the source of its most prominent goals, after the "Don" was crowned top scorer in the league last season, not to mention that he scored 81 goals in 223 games with "Bianconeri" between 2018 and 2021.

In addition to his artistic influence, there is no doubt that Ronaldo has another very important aspect that is commercial, through his value as a global marketing brand par excellence.

In order to compensate, Juventus only included the 21-year-old, who was born in Piedmont (but lived in Asti, 50 kilometers from Turin), in a move that reflects the new approach of Juventus President Andrea Agnelli.

Comprehensive change campaign

Ronaldo’s departure comes in a new economic context for the Italian giant, especially after the increasing financial burdens on the club thanks to the requirements of Ronaldo’s presence in the club since 2018, which cost him about 90 million euros per season as salaries and others, in addition to the significant impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Therefore, salary cuts were among the top priorities, which justifies the club's failure to fight hard to keep Ronaldo. From an economic point of view, this strategy of investing in young people also raises the hope of some financial gain in the future.

However, the most prominent challenge is that Juventus maintain its high technical level in the Champions League as well, and not only locally, especially since the club's ambitions to restore its continental glory have not been achieved despite its investment in major deals similar to the Ronaldo deal. It was remarkable what club president Agnelli said in August of the year 2020, after a short period of time after his team was eliminated from the previous continental quarter-finals at the hands of French Lyon (zero-1 and 2-1) “I have heard many times that we have one of the oldest squads in the tournament. This may require a rethink.

Accordingly, it is noted that the players who have recently left the club’s walls are of advanced ages, Ronaldo (36 years), in addition to Argentine Goncalo Higuain (33 years old), French Blaise Matuidi (34 years old), Croatian Miralem Pjanic (31 years). And goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon (43 years old).

On the other hand, Juventus succeeded in bringing in many young talents who are no more than 25 years old, such as Swede Diane Koloshevsky and Manuel Locatelli, in addition to Kane and Brazilian Arthur Melo, American Weston McKinney and Federico Chiesa.

In addition to these relatively mature players that Juventus included, the Italian club went further in its thinking for the future and signed Brazilian striker Jorge Caillou, 19, who emerged with his country in the 2019 Under-17 World Cup, which culminated in Brazil's title on its home soil. Tournament Scorer Award.

Establishing a spherical value

Juventus maintained some balance by renewing the contract of defense rock Giorgio Chiellini, and extending the loan of Spanish striker Alvaro Morata (28 years) from Atletico Madrid, with the possibility of including him permanently next season.

Although Allegri wished for one or two veteran players, such as the return of Pjanic or the inclusion of Argentine Mauro Icardi, according to the media, he always stressed his desire to comply with the club's policy.

During his announcement last July, the Italian coach insisted several times that his goal was to achieve results, while at the same time showing high football value.

"This team is fun to train, because there are a lot of players who can progress," Allegri said.

Thinking about the future also includes the training aspect that is very important for technical stability, and for this reason the club granted Allegri a four-year contract, something that does not happen in many clubs in light of Juventus' desire to restore its luster after a lean season under the leadership of former coach Andrea Pirlo.

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