The final day of the 2000-01 Serie A season saw one of Italian football’s most infamous moments when Carlo Ancelotti was sacked during the half-time interval of Juventus’ last game. His side led Atalanta 1-0 but with Roma winning 2-0 against Parma, the Scudetto was heading to the Italian capital.
It was a move designed to shock by general manager Luciano Moggi, designed to demonstrate that change was needed as Juventus finished a third straight season empty handed. The changes continued soon after the season’s end as Zinedine Zidane, then regarded as the world’s best footballer, went on holiday having informed the club that he wanted to move to Real Madrid.
The departure of Zidane – in a world record switch to the Bernabeu – was always going to be perceived as a huge loss for Juventus. But instead it was the start of a new era. Zidane may have starred for France at the turn of the century but at club level, he had failed to lead the Bianconeri to glory. And besides, there was plenty more for Juventus fans to get excited about.
Lilian Thuram and Gianluigi Buffon arrived from Parma and Lazio’s Pavel Nedved was also added. With Marcelo Lippi back at the helm, Juve won the Serie A title the very next season and reached the 2003 Champions League final, losing to AC Mlan on penalties.
Fabio Capello was next in and with the likes of Buffon, Nedved, David Trezeguet, Alessandro Del Piero, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Fabio Cannavaro, Patrick Vieira and Mauro Camoranesi at his disposal, Juventus began to dominate again at home.
The Calciopoli scandal brought that all crashing down in 2006 of course and the road back to the top was a long and arduous one. But return to the top they eventually did and under Antonio Conte and then Massimiliano Allegri, Juventus have won five consecutive Scudetti and two Coppas Italia.
Now, the challenge is to restore the Bianconeri to the pinnacle of European football. The obstacles are plenty and the challenges are business ones as well as football; the revenues being generated by top clubs in England, Spain and Germany are far beyond their Italian counterparts.
Still, the club is not shy to state its intent publically with Allegri recently saying: “Winning the sixth Scudetto is our primary objective this season, as well as having a good Champions League campaign, and when I say a good Champions League campaign, I mean our objective needs to be to win it.”
Dani Alves and Miralem Pjanic have been signed, two high-quality acquisitions, and confidence is supported by some great performances in continental competition over the past couple of years. But still Juve are not being widely considered as part of the European elite.
And if Paul Pogba is to leave for Manchester United, it would be an unquestionable blow to Juventus’ hopes of achieving their aim of rejoining the top table.
“Juventus must let him go”, ex-Inter Milan and France midfielder Youri Djorkaeff recently told Gazzetta dello Sport. “It’s pointless to keep a player who should be aspiring to play for the biggest clubs, and Juventus would make a lot of money.”
This is exactly why Juventus should not sell Paul Pogba. It would certainly not be the worst outcome if the transfer did go through, Juventus richer to the tune of a hugely exaggerated Dhs486 million (€120m) fee. But unlike the summer of 2001 when Zidane left, improving the squad is no longer the main concern.
15 – Paul Pogba provided more assists in all competitions last season than any other Serie A player (15). Cultured.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) July 15, 2016
Football is now about building brands and there is no question that Pogba strengthens ‘Brand Juve’ like no other.
With the club able to count on the likes of Omar Sivori, Michael Platini, Roberto Baggio, Zidane, Del Piero and Nedved as past heroes, Turin should be the natural habitat for football’s household names. The Juventus brand needs to be synonymous with sporting excellence once again on a global level and Pogba’s stardom will help revive the Old Lady’s status.
Juventus’ continued financial growth is reassuring and the club is indeed heading in the right direction, with revenues this year expected to exceed Dhs1.54 billion (€380m). While this shows quality of management off the pitch coinciding with great success on the pitch, Juventus still has a lot of catching up to do with the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United, and Bayern Munich.
Growing the Juventus brand is a necessity and something from which the club will greatly benefit, but without Pogba, the rise back to the top of European football will certainly be slower.
