With just over a month to go before the summer transfer window slams shut, football clubs are engaged in heated negotiations - with other clubs, players and their agents - in a melee to try and bring home the men of their choice. In their quest for talent, Serie A clubs such as Juventus, Napoli, AC Milan and Inter aren’t far behind their European counterparts and continue to feature among the most sought-after destinations for elite footballers.
With an enviable trophy list, an established manager, a legendary captain as well as world-class players to play alongside, Italian champions Juventus have left no stone unturned in their pursuit of excellence this summer. The Torinese club have a history of snapping up some of the most expensive and talented players in the world and needless to say, their recruitment has certainly helped them to become a global football force to reckon with.
Let us take a look down the years at some of Juve’s signings whose arrivals came at a great monetary cost to the club.
#10 Alex Sandro - €26m
Arriving at Juventus in the summer of 2015 following a five-year stint at FC Porto, Alex Sandro is a left-back and a Brazilian international. He cost a sizeable amount in transfers after being valued at €26m by the Portuguese club.
Sandro, a defender who can also set up attacks on the flanks, quickly established himself as an integral part of manager Massimiliano Allegri’s plans. He went on to make 22 appearances in his debut season with the Bianconeri and also won the Scudetto. It will be interesting to see his development and evolution in the forthcoming season under Allegri’s tutelage.
At the international level, Sandro has represented Brazil at various youth levels and won silverware with the national team as well. He was part of the U-20 team that won the South American Youth championship and FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2011 before going on to play at the U-23 level where he secured the runners-up medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
#9 Marco di Vaio - €26m
Marco initially moved to Juventus in the summer of 2002 from Parma on loan before making the move permanent at the end of the season. He arrived from Parma with an impressive scoring record of 20 goals in 33 league appearances for the side.
However, his two years at Turin did not see him reach the heights he was expected to when brought in as he scored just 7 and 11 goals during each of the seasons. Marco’s relatively short stint at Juve is also attributable to the fact that he struggled to cement a first-team place as new signings and established players competed for playing time in a well-drilled squad.
The Italian forward moved to Spanish team Valencia in the summer of 2004 as there was a managerial shake-up at Juve and he did not feature in the new coach’s plans. He went on to play for AS Monaco, Genoa and Bologna before moving to Canadian club Montreal Impact in 2012.
#8 Diego - €27m
Juventus were treading rough waters at the end of the 2008/09 season as manager Claudio Ranieri was sacked and former player Ciro Ferrara was appointed club coach. He went on to manage the Bianconeri in the 2009/10 season and oversaw the arrival of the promising Diego from German club Werder Bremen for €27m.
However, Ferrara’s appointment did nothing to help Juve or Diego perform to their potential as the club suffered exits from the Champions League and Coppa Italia. As a player who thrives on his manager’s confidence in him, the Brazilian suffered at Juventus from the lack of such a powerful motivating impetus.
While they lay languishing at sixth place during mid-season, the inevitable dismissal of Ferrara was announced by the club but his replacement was ineffective in pulling Diego and Juve out of the mire.
At the end of the season, changes in executive leadership saw a new club President and Director of Sport step in. The latter wasted no time in letting Diego move on and the player reluctantly transferred to VfL Wolfsburg but struggled to find his form. A loan move to Atletico in 2011 rejuvenated him but it proved to be a short-lived stint.
#7 Emerson - €28m
Emerson Ferreira da Rosa, known commonly as just Emerson, arrived at Juve in the summer transfer window of 2004 for a fee of €28m. Negotiations for the player’s transfer were protracted and lengthy with his former club AS Roma interested in selling him to Real Madrid instead of league rivals Juventus. However, the player’s preference for the Torinese club finally helped clinch the deal in favour of Juve.
Emerson won the Scudetto with Roma in his debut season for the club in 2000/01 and soon became one of the first names on the team sheet as he went on to secure the Supercoppa Italiana with the club in 2002 and finished runners-up in the Coppa Italia in 2003. However, despite winning two league titles with Juve, it did not hold good as the club was stripped of it on the back of the 2006 betting scandal.
The Brazilian started out at Gremio, winning trophies with the local team before swapping South America for the bright football lights of Europe by moving to German club Bayer Leverkusen in 1997. The defensive midfielder then made the switch to Italy which saw him enter one of the most noteworthy phases of his career.
#6 Miralem Pjanic - €32m
While several inches of column space in printed and online media have been devoted to Gonzalo Higuain’s record-breaking transfer, another player arrived relatively quietly at the Bianconeri this summer.
AS Roma’s playmaker, the all-important man who pulls the strings, the orchestrator in the middle of the park – the adjectives used to describe Miralem Pjanic and his effectiveness are numerous. In his five seasons at Roma, the Bosnian international cemented himself as a crucial part of the team.
The 26-year old scored and helped create goals and established himself as a free-kick specialist as evidenced in the recently concluded Serie A season. His vision, passing and dribbling abilities make him stand out in midfield. It is also notable that he provided the joint most assists in the league (12) during the 2015/16 season.
The deep-lying midfielder represented Bosnia in the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and scored 3 goals while assisting 4 more and was pivotal to them securing their first qualification for the final stages of the tournament.
#5 Paulo Dybala - €32m
Dybala moved to Italian club Palermo in 2012 and shot to fame after he enjoyed an eventful 2014/15 season where he was involved in the creation of 23 goals, including scoring and assists. The summer of 2015 saw several clubs vying for his signature until Juventus proved to be successful in capturing it.
Drafted in to replace departing fellow-Argentine Carlos Tevez, Dybala proved to be an astute acquisition as he repaid his manager’s faith and proved worthy of an enormous transfer fee. His performances were characterised by an excellent, all-round display all through his debut season.
During the course of this, he helped Juve win the treble of the Scudetto, the Coppa Italia and the Supercoppa Italiana and also finished as top goalscorer for the club and second overall in the league in 2015/16, behind only Gonzalo Higuain.
The highly-rated forward was not part of the Argentina squad that finished runners-up at the Copa América Centenario but has been included in the preliminary squad for the 2016 Rio Olympics to represent the country.
#4 Pavel Nedved - €41.2m
It wouldn’t be an understatement to say that Juventus splashed the cash in the summer of 2001, as they looked to bring in quality players to help them back to the top of the league following two seasons of trophy drought. Czech international Pavel Nedved became one of the costliest signings of the summer along the likes of Lilian Thuram and Gigi Buffon.
The departure of Zinedine Zidane had left a significant void in the Bianconeri squad and when the highly acclaimed midfielder’s future was under intense scrutiny following Lazio’s intention to sell, Juve made the most of the opportunity.
Nedved was among the players who formed the spine of the Juventus team that won successive league titles and he also fired the Italians into the Champions League final in 2003. He won the Ballon d’Or in December 2003, becoming only the second Czech player ever to secure the prestigious award.
Despite Juve’s relegation to Serie B in 2006, Nedved chose to stay on and achieved promotion with the club the next season. He retired from football in 2009, following a series of injuries.
#3 Lilian Thuram - €41.5m
The young defender - winner of the 1998 World Cup and 2000 Euro Championships with the Les Blues - caught the eye of many a club’s scouting team. Finally, it was Juventus who swooped in and shelled out the most for a defender back then to make Thuram part of the setup at the Old Lady in 2001.
He provided stability to the Juventus defence; along with ex-Parma team-mate Gigi Buffon, he became a constant feature in their back-line and a dependable player for the club. The France international won the Scudetto twice with Juventus during the 2001/02 and 2002/03 seasons and continued his rock-solid performances as he racked up more than 140 appearances for the club until 2006.
Thuram moved to Barcelona after Juve were relegated to the second tier in 2006 and continued to impress at the Catalan club as he notched up more than 200 appearances for them.
#2 Gianluigi Buffon - €52.88m
Little can be said or written about Gigi Buffon that hasn’t already been covered across various sections of media over the years. He arrived from Parma in 2001 for a figure close to €53m and remained Juve’s most expensive transfer until the current summer. The amount paid for him continues to be the highest ever for any goalkeeper and mind you, this was before TV deals inflated transfer markets to current levels.
In a day and age where money rules hearts (and transfers), few players epitomise the idea of club loyalty like Gigi. When Juventus was rocked by a betting scandal in 2006 and suffered relegation, he chose to stay on despite having a number of suitors. The Italian played his part in the club achieving promotion back to the top tier the following season. This act elevated him to beyond-legendary status in the eyes of the club’s fans and they continue to revere their icon and captain.
However, it is not just emotion – Gigi has been instrumental between the sticks and at 38, continues to be an excellent leader and reader of the game. Buffon’s time at Juve has been full of titles and personal glory as he won 7 Scudettos with the Turin club; he also won the World Cup with the Azzurri in 2006 and in his prime, became one of the best goalkeepers in the world.
He was nominated for the Ballon d’Or numerous times and is the only goalie to have won the ‘UEFA Club Footballer of the Year’ in 2003. The only piece of silverware that has proved elusive during his time in Turin is the Champions League medal; it remains Gigi’s dream to win it with Juve as he embarks upon a new season with them.
#1 Gonzalo Higuain - €90m
Higuain was the subject of much interest and speculation, linking him to some of the top clubs in Europe. In fact, rumours associating him with a move to Arsenal made headlines so often that one could be forgiven for mistaking it to be true!
The former SSC Napoli striker scored a record 36 goals in the Serie A in the 2015/16 season, propelling his club to runners-up place and winning the Italian golden boot. However, a discord with the club’s President left him searching for a move to greener pastures.
The Argentine, whose impressive career started back home at River Plate, has notched up numerous trophies with Real Madrid before sealing a big-money move to Napoli in 2013. His performances for his country helped them finish second in the recently concluded Copa América Centenario in June 2016.
When Pipita was made available, how can a club of Juve’s size and stature be too far! The Torinese make sure to conduct their transfers in a manner where the world is left open-mouthed and this time was no different. The reigning Italian champions splurged a record transfer amount to procure Higuain from their domestic rivals, in turn making him not only Juve’s but Serie A’s most expensive signing of all time!
