A major shake-up to the squad is predicted this summer time, however the seek for the brand new Juventus sporting director should be wrapped up earlier than their summer time switch enterprise accelerates. Beneath we profile 4 candidates, considered the frontrunners for the position.
New-Look Juventus Board Taking Form
A summer time of change is already nicely underway in Turin, beginning with a hierarchical shake-up.
This week, Damien Comolli took up the position of basic supervisor, the place he’ll be reporting on to Chief Govt Officer Maurizio Scanavino.
A former soccer scout with a notoriously eager eye for expertise, Comolli has held varied director roles at Liverpool, Tottenham and Saint-Etienne, however most just lately labored miracles as president of Toulouse.
His appointment brings with it a lot promise, having reworked a downbeat Toulouse right into a membership underpinned by statistical evaluation and data-informed transfers. In consequence, he lifted them from Ligue 2 into the top-half of Ligue 1, in addition to a primary ever Coupe de France.
Earlier than launching into the switch market, amongst the primary order of enterprise for Comolli might be serving to to nominate the subsequent Juventus sporting director.
The incumbent, Cristiano Giuntoli, is widely expected to leave amid the membership’s mass company restructuring, successfully ending a string of main investments which have didn’t land — each within the dugout, and on the pitch.
The Outdated Girl are nicely positioned to kick on in a brand new sporting course subsequent season, having efficiently secured Champions League qualification. Nonetheless, a bunch of short-term offers, together with necessary mortgage offers for Kolo Muani, Renato Veiga and Francisco Conceição, are coming to an finish.
Balancing their precarious monetary state of affairs with a have to bolster a skinny squad requires the experience of a brand new sporting director, so it’s value unpicking the candidates considered in membership’s crosshairs.
Subsequent Juventus Sporting Director Shortlist
Frederic Massara
Frederic Massara, or ‘Ricky’ as he affectionately know, is at the moment in the marketplace after leaving his most up-to-date position at director of soccer at Stade Rennais.
Massara has a notable resumé in Serie A having beforehand held related roles at each Roma and AC Milan.
Significantly on the latter, Massara left his mark after being named Sporting Director of the 12 months alongside Paolo Maldini on the 2022 Globe Soccer Awards.
Throughout his tenure on the San Siro, Massara labored collaboratively with Maldini to usher in the likes of Rafael Leao, Theo Hernandez, Olivier Giroud, Fikayo Tomori and Mike Maignan.
His comparatively quick stint at Rennes — 11 months to be actual — has been barely underwhelming as the 2 events go their separate methods, however a market alternative nearly as good as it will little doubt prick the ears of Juve’s new board.
Diego Lopez
A barely younger method may see Juventus bounce in for Diego Lopez.
The 35-year-old just lately vacated his position as sporting director as Lens, having efficiently balanced the books after sanctioning a slew of participant gross sales at the beginning of his tenure.
Having been credited for deepening ties with the youth system and increasing the membership’s world scouting community, Lopez’s status as one of many youngest, and most promising administrators in world soccer has not gone unnoticed.
His skill to work throughout the confines of a decent funds could nicely go well with Juve, who’re nonetheless feeling their manner by monetary uncertainty, having been hit with a 10-point deduction two years in the past for false accounting.
Matteo Tognozzi
Experiences this week linking Matteo Tognozzi with a return to Turin have ramped up, having departed in 2023.
Having left to tackle a brand new outstanding position at Granada, he’s earned his stripes as a sporting director during the last two years.
Nonetheless, Tognozzi has deep ties to Juventus having first began out as a youth staff scout again in 2017, earlier than being promoted to the membership’s chief scouting place.
Throughout his time serving to to form Juve’s world-renowned youth improvement pathway, he oversaw the early careers of Dean Huijsen, Matias Soulé, and Kenan Yildiz,, in addition to the arrivals of Samuel Iling-Junior and Enzo Barrenechea.
In response to the safest online betting sites, Tognozzi is broadly anticipated to return to the membership in some capability, and is the tentative favorite for the soon-to-be-vacant position.
Hasan Salihamidzic
Former Juventus participant Hasan Salihamidzic has additionally quietly made his manner onto the shortlist, probably due to his ties to the membership.
Salihamidzic has been out of a job since leaving Bayern Munich in 2023, the place he served as sporting director for the higher a part of three years.
The Bosnian boasts a powerful skill to usher in elite expertise, having efficiently captured the likes of Noussair Mazraoui, Mathys Tel, Matthijs de Ligt, Yann Sommer, Ryan Gravenberch, and Sadio Mane in a comparatively quick stint in Munich.
His sacking at Bayern introduced with it loads of controversy, having been dismissed together with CEO Oliver Kahn, lower than an hour after the Bavarians lifted the Bundesliga.
The put up Putting Juventus’ Four-Man Sporting Director Shortlist Under the Microscope appeared first on FootItalia.com.
