Last season was abysmal for Juventus compared to their usual title-winning standards. They failed in the Champions League and barely qualified for this season’s edition, taking it into the last Serie A matchday to qualify. Then, of course, Cristiano Ronaldo departed the club.
Juventus were left scrambling and failed to improve during the summer transfer window. They started this season on the wrong foot, but have been back on track lately in Serie A and have made it to the Champions League round of 16. Their moves during the winter transfer window only make them stronger.
Juventus Make Some Improvements in Winter Transfer Window
Recap of a Miserable Summer Window
Ronaldo leaving the club left a major gut punch. Not only did he take his magnificent on-field production with him, but also his global brand. Juventus needed to find a suitable replacement and came up with Moise Kean. The Italian striker is just 21-years-old with loads of potential but wasn’t ready to replace Ronaldo’s production all on his own. This season, he has three goals and one assist in 17 Serie A appearances.
Veteran Gianluigi Buffon also left the club for a second time. This wasn’t overly impactful to Juventus’ line-up decisions, but losing two major veteran presences in Ronaldo and Buffon is never easy.
Juventus managed to make a move for Weston McKennie official, which remains beneficial. He has four goals this season and scored six last season. They also brought in Manuel Locatelli, a shrewd move, but he couldn’t fix the midfield woes all on his own.
Due to the upheaval this past summer, Juventus started out the season very poorly. Now, however, they’re fifth in Serie A and one point behind fourth-place Atalanta. The Bergamo side have a match in hand, but Juventus are right back into the thick of things.
January Brings Massive Improvement
The major move of the January transfer window was bringing in Dusan Vlahovic from Fiorentina. He’s one of the top young strikers in all of football and is ready to win with Juventus.
Last season, Vlahovic scored 21 goals and provided two assists in 37 league appearances. He’s on pace to shred those numbers this season. In 21 matches with Fiorentina this season, Vlahovic scored 17 goals and provided five assists. Now he teams up with other notable attacking stars, such as Paulo Dybala.
Federico Chiesa won’t be available to play with Vlahovic this season due to injury, but Juventus is dreaming of what this trio can be capable of next season. Vlahovic will make Juventus a legitimate top-four threat to finish off the Serie A season, and makes the team even more dangerous in the Champions League.
Juventus also brought in Denis Zakaria to replace Rodrigo Bentancur, who has joined Tottenham Hotspur. Zakaria is a better fit in a midfield with players such as Locatelli and McKennie.
Lastly, Juventus bid adieu to Dejan Kulusevski and Aaron Ramsey as well. Both lacked playing time and were costing Juventus a significant amount of money for a lack of contributions. These departures helped fund Vlahovic, as well as possibly any other moves Juventus have under their sleeves this coming transfer window.
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