Why Juventus not renewing Paratici’s contract was the right decision

With Fabio Paratici now at Tottenham, Jerry Mancini looks at why his exit from Juventus was the right move.

When Cristiano Ronaldo arrived at Juventus in the summer of 2018, it meant that big changes were coming for the club. It has been reported from media outlets that Beppe Marotta knew that they didn’t have the funds to sustain such a move. Ex-Italian striker, Luca Toni, has mentioned as well that Ronaldo was the reason to his departure.


While the reason for Marotta’s departure from Juventus is unknown, he joined Inter and has done a marvellous job with the Nerazzurri. He won a Scudetto in his second season with the club and it was their first trophy since 2011/12. He signed players who were integral to ex-Inter manager, Antonio Conte’s tactics. He was also the genius behind Juve’s success, allowing them to establish an identity after signing many marquee players.


Marotta leaving meant that Fabio Paratici would take over as Sporting Director of Juventus. His time with the club had achievements and setbacks.


He failed to improve the midfield for numerous seasons and it lacked creativity and any drive in their attack. In the past seasons, the team has been reliant on players such as Adrien Rabiot, Aaron Ramsey and Rodrigo Bentancur, yet they have provided little in the final third.


Weston Mckennie has been a decent signing who has shown positive signs at times in their attack while Arthur has been a disappointment as he’s struggled to stay fit since his arrival. There have been several key signings for the midfield, yet they still don’t possess a midfielder who can advance the ball forward to their strikers and wingers.


Aside from failing to address the midfield, after bringing in a player such as Ronaldo, the culture of the team changed.
While the signing of Ronaldo had big risks involved, the addition of Gonzalo Higuain had its benefits and downfalls. Juventus paid $94 million euros for the striker, and the Argentine adapted well in his first two seasons as he scored 55 goals during that time.


However, in his third season, Higuain went on two separate loans to AC Milan and Chelsea before returning to Juventus. The moment Higuain was loaned out, the forward struggled to regain the form he showed in his first two season with Juventus. After his fourth season with the Old Lady, he agreed with Juventus to terminate his contract and became a free agent.


Allegri’s initial departure stemmed from Paratici. The Juventus manager, who now has returned to the club for a second stint, left when he knew that the team needed a change. Paratici hired Maurizio Sarri, knowing that Club President, Andrea Agnelli, wasn’t that fond of him. After a tumultuous year, Agnelli wanted Sarri out and picked his own manager, Andrea Pirlo, who didn’t fare much better. The amount of money spent on wages for their managers in recent seasons has been ludicrous.


Ramsey and Rabiot were signed on free transfers yet were given significant salaries and haven’t improved the midfield. Ramsey has been constantly injured and they’ve struggled to sell him due to his wages.


Joao Cancelo was swapped for Danilo at Manchester City in order to make a profit and show a gain on the books. Danilo has been good, but Cancelo has been great for Man City and also has massive potential.


Moise Kean was a promising young player who was sold for the club to make money. They needed a fourth striker, yet had one already available to them. Cristian Romero, 2020/21 Serie A Defender of the season, was bought from Genoa for $30 million euros and, without playing a game, a year later he was sold to Atalanta for €20 million.


In the 2019/20 season, Juventus had a financial loss of €68 million Euros while last season they lost €113 million in the first six months.


When a good move has been made by Paratici, it’s somehow managed to backfire on Juventus. The club purchased Dejan Kulusevski yet also bought Federico Chiesa who plays the same position. Although Chiesa has been outstanding this season but Kulusevski has been playing out of position and has really struggled to perform at highest level. This money could have been used to improve the midfield.


While they managed to win a Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana under Pirlo, it was a lackluster season. The club made the decision to part ways with Paratici, a move that should have been made much sooner. In doing so, it led to the return of Allegri to Juventus.


After eleven years with Juventus, he left the club to join Tottenham as the new Managing Director of Football. Paratici and Juventus have parted ways and the club now find themselves moving in a new direction.

By Jerry Mancini.

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