Famous Italian and Serie A sporting director Walter Sabatini assessed the transfer window carried out by Juventus this summer, during an interview for Tuttosport.
The new project with Thiago Motta:
« Motta is reproposing in Turin what we saw in Bologna: a compact, strong team, with clear ideas in tactical design, with precise game concepts. I have never worked with Motta, but I have followed him closely. »
Good work has been done:
« They have boys from 2004 or 2005 who play as starters at Juventus, like Yildiz: it’s not nothing. Or they used them to finance incoming operations: it’s a fundamental resource. They did a very important job of quality selection: it’s something historic for our football and now many are following the example. I would like to highlight the work done by Cherubini and Fusco: in football there is the law of forgetting, but I have not forgotten those who have given so much for the good of our movement. Today we see the results of all this commitment. »
Can Dusan Vlahovic score more than 20 goals?
« I am convinced of it. Motta also made sure that Zirkzee found the back of the net. He has a lot of qualities, but before going to Bologna he was certainly not a goal scorer, but with Thiago he reached double figures. The way I see Vlahovic now, for the determination he brings on the pitch, I am sure he will score a lot of goals. »
The achat of Teun Koopmeiners :
« These are not investments that I have been used to during my managerial career. I was used to taking players from another level from the start, a player with those numbers, I would not have taken him, but the value of Koopmeiners is not in doubt: in football I like to see the prowess of young people, perhaps from other continents. It is obvious that Koopmeiners, as the best player at Atalanta, would have been paid that amount: he is an important player, of course he costs money and the negotiation would have continued at that level. If a player does not represent an asset for a second market, to be resold in the future for a higher sum, as I am, I do not appreciate him. There are other operations that I am more passionate about, including that of Juventus. »
The recruitment of Juan Cabal:
« Cabal, for example. For me it’s a big deal: he’s a strong player, who comes from Colombia and therefore with less specific ‘football culture’, but he proved himself immediately at Verona: in my opinion he can make a new leap in quality at Juve. I’m like that, I have my own idea of football, somewhere between the search for talent and added value. But I didn’t win the Scudetto… So Mourinho will probably despise me. »
The Adrien Rabiot case:
« The answer is Juventus, who have diverted investments elsewhere and the pitch proves them right. We are talking about a player I like a lot: I wanted to bring him to Roma. It was a deal concluded when his contract with PSG was out, then I had a disagreement with his mother and the deal was canceled. Of course, if a player like him does not find a team, it means that something is changing in the football market: these are extreme situations that are difficult to predict. They are signs of a change in the mentality of the leaders and perhaps also of the fans. »
Sabatini analyzes Juventus’ market: “I wouldn’t have taken Koopmeiners, Cabal is a great signing” 💰 ⚪ ⚫
— GOAL Italia (@GoalItalia) September 9, 2024
