Author Archives: Enrico Passarella

Juventus announce Sarri as their new coach

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It took longer than anticipated, but Juventus finally have their new coach: former Chelsea and Napoli boss Maurizio Sarri, who has reportedly penned a three-year, €18M contract. Sarri is coming off a third-placed finish with the Blues and recently won the first trophy of his career by beating Arsenal in the Europa League final. It took a small financial compensation in order to release him from his deal with the English club. Despite the relative success of his tenure, Sarri butted heads with the players and the management and was never embraced by the fans during his time in London and at some point was at risk of being axed mid-season. Continue reading →

Bernardeschi opens up and Buffon weighs in on Juventus matters

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Federico Bernardeschi continues to be one of the most talkative players and his interview to Fashion Illustrated was published yesterday: “I became a man at Juventus, one that tries to learn and improve every day. The passion for football is innate. I was told that I was already chasing after the ball at three, it was love at first sight and I can consider myself lucky now since my job is my greatest passion and enjoyment. I am interested in fashion and music too.”

On his career: “When I was eight, I commuted almost every day to practice in the Empoli’s youth academy. My parents and I made big sacrifices. I saw it as something entertaining, but it was a lot of travel. Continue reading →

Matthaus links Rodriguez to Juventus and Higuain’s future update

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Lothar Matthaus revealed in an interview to AS Colombia that he believes James Rodriguez will move to Old Lady after chatting with the player: “I met him during the celebration for the last Bayern title and talked about everything, from Colombia to the history of football. I think he will join Juventus: he is very close with Cristiano Ronaldo, they are in touch and the Portuguese would like to bring him to Turin. James is a great assist man and they do brilliant things together.” Rodriguez will leave Bundesliga as the club did not pick the €45M option to buy him, so it will be up to Real Madrid to decide his future. He has often been linked to the Madama in the past, but in recent weeks he appeared way closer to Napoli, which is helmed by his former coach Carlo Ancelotti. He scored 15 times and provided 20 helpers in 67 apperances in the last two years in Germany. Continue reading →

Genoa choose Andreazzoli

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After a dismal finish that brought them to the brink of relegation, Genoa have decided to move on from Cesare Prandelli, who took over midseason, and hired Empoli’s coach Aurelio Andreazzoli, the one they sent to Serie B thank to a better head-to-head record.

The former Italy coach had an okay start in December after replacing Milan Juric, losing just a pair of times in the first two months, but then his side plunged into a long crisis and failed to win from the start of April on. Few ties down the stretch proved to be just enough to avoid going down. He had a year left on his contract. Continue reading →

Verona name Juric as their new coach

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A successful late run that allowed them to snatch a spot in the playoffs and then go all the way was not enough to convince Hellas Verona to bet on Alfredo Aglietti in 2019/2020. They parted ways with him and appointed former Genoa coach Ivan Juric, whom they had reportedly decided to hire no matter where they would play, who has agreed to a one-year contract. The Gialloblù spent the last four seasons going up and down Serie A and Serie B.

Aglietti was hired with two matches to go, when the Scaligeri were on the outside looking in, and he managed to get them into the postseason and defeated Pescara and Cittadella to gain the promotion. He previously managed at Empoli, Novara, Virtus Entella and Ascoli, but likely paid the prize for his lack of experience in the top league. He had agreed to a short-term contract before taking over.  Continue reading →

Allegri takes a sabbatical, Rugani eyes extension and Barzagli talks

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Former Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri confirmed yesterday that he will have a sabbatical during an event in Milan: “I will take a break for a year because I need to regain control of my personal life. I have been in the whirlwind for the last 16 years, so I neglected a little my family, my kids and my friends. I will use this opportunity to recharge ahead of next season.” He had a year left on his contract and so far there have been no news about its conclusion with a severance package.

Daniele Rugani’s agent Davide Torchia spoke to Radio Bianconera about a potential new extension for his client that appears to be in the works: “We had the last one in March, but it was just a technicality, we had discussed it way back. Continue reading →

Juventus reach agreement for Empoli’s Traore and Bentancur wants to stay

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Empoli president Fabrizio Corsi confirmed the recent buzz about Juventus being hot on the trails of Hamed Traore in an interview to Tuttomercatoweb: “The deal is on the homestretch, only the signatures are missing but everything has been defined and we gave our word. In January, he was a kid with a high potential, in the last five months he became a player with a very important future. Right now, he is a complimentary piece for big teams, but I believe he is destined to have a fantastic career because he is at 70/80 percent of his technical and physical abilities right now. His smartness is off the charts and the rest of his game will eventually catch up to it.” Continue reading →

Agnelli’s wealth, League’s assembly and players’ soundbites

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Forbes recently released a list of the richest owners in football and the Agnelli family, which is obviously represented by the president of the club Andrea, are ranked fifth with a $15.9B net worth. They trail to Carlos Slim (Real Oviedo, $59.3B), Francois Pinault (Rennes, $31.7B), Mansour bin Zayd Al Nahyan (Manchester City, $23B), Dietrich Mateschitz (Red Bull teams, $18.9B), while they precede Roman Abramovich (Chelsea, $12.4B), Philip Anschutz (Los Angeles Galaxy, $11B), Stan Kroenke (Arsenal, $8.8B), Zhang Jindong (Inter, $6.8B), Dmitry Rybolovlev (Monaco, $6.8B) and Nasser Al-Khelaifi (PSG, $6.2B). Continue reading →

Roma appoint Fonseca

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Roma picked an up-and-comer to lead the squad, Paulo Fonseca from Shakhtar Donetsk. The manager agreed to a two-year contract and his hiring was made official on Tuesday morning. He takes over from Claudio Ranieri, who was appointed as caretaker manager after the sacking of Eusebio Di Francesco in March. La Lupa closed the season in sixth position, their worst finish in the six years.

In Ukraine, Fonseca won seven trophies in the last three seasons: three national titles, three domestic cups and one supercup. His side dominated and prevailed in 100 of the 135 matches, at one point collecting ten clean sheets in a row and breaking that record with 24 in a season. Continue reading →

Juventus can reload with Serie A players alone

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No matter what coach will be chosen, Juventus will have to address some glaring needs in the upcoming transfer market session, but they might be able to fill them with the usual modus operandi: plucking players from other Serie A teams. Here are some of the three biggest holes.

A heir to Giorgio Chiellini: the Old Lady had a good thing going in the first half of last season, where for a while they were able to rotate two well-assorted duos, Leonardo Bonucci-Medhi Benatia and Daniele Rugani-Chiellini, and go with Bonucci-Chiellini in the most demanding fixtures. Eventually, the Moroccan centre-back grew tired for the lack of consistent playing times and asked to leave and Martin Caceres was a temporary cheap patch. Continue reading →