Allegri Return About Putting the Youth in Juventus

It is within this framework of nurturing and promoting younger talent that Allegri has agreed to at Juventus for a second spell. He must also do without long-serving chief football officer Fabio Paratici, who becomes Tottenham’s director of football following 11 years in Turin. Changes of coach and on the board coinciding like this come against a backdrop of the new approach continuing in earnest.

There are a number of veterans in the Old Lady squad, although goalkeeping great Gianluigi Buffon has left for a second time. Senior pros like Ronaldo, club captain Giorgio Cheillini and fellow defender Leonardo Bonucci still have much to teach the younger players in training and guiding them on the field through big games.

De Ligt and Turkey international Merih Demiral are being groomed to marshal the Juve rearguard of tomorrow. Chiellini, with the Old Lady continuously since 2005, and having made the Paolo Maldini-like conversion from left-back to centre-half, can certainly impart some of the dark arts of defending to that duo, alongside long-time partner in crime for club and country Bonucci.

Midfield mentors are somewhat thinner on the ground in Turin. Texan-born Weston McKennie, Uruguay international Rodrigo Bentancur, and Arthur, all under 25, can look to Aaron Ramsey in the dressing room, even if the Wales star hasn’t had the best luck with injuries. Juventus have the still-maturing Adrien Rabiot on their books as an engine room option too.

Kulusevski is the great hope from the supporting cast. Both players named Federico, Bernardeschi, and Chiesa, flowered in Florence, with Fiorentina yet to still fully bloom in the care of the Old Lady. Chiesa had his best scoring to date since leaving the Tuscan team on loan for Turin, while Bernardeschi has never been so prolific.

Up front, Juventus will still rely on the freak of nature that is Ronaldo aged 36. He scored a third of their 108 goals across all competitions last season, and captured the Serie A Golden Boot, the Capocannoniere, for the first time in the process. The Old Lady’s other forward options, Alvaro Morata and Dybala, are in their prime.

While Dybala was Juve’s top scorer twice in his first three seasons since signing from Sicilian side Palermo, Spain striker Morata hasn’t enjoyed the most settled of club careers. He’s been on the move five times since 2014 when he first arrived in Turin, after leaving Real Madrid to ironically enough escape the shadow of Ronaldo. Any team that has a world-class superstar like the prolific Portuguese attracts global interest.

People will follow Juventus simply because Ronaldo is on their books. Just as he has worldwide appeal, so does betting on football. As an example, given the geographical proximity of Serie A to countries where Arabic is spoken, it has seen a surge in popularity in terms of gambling. It is one of the top leagues people from the region bet on. This is because there are plenty of footballers from the Middle East and North Africa to have played in Italy including Mo Salah, and their presence has helped the world of Arabian sports betting to grow. Fans from Middle East can enjoy betting on sports securely and safe in platforms like ArabianBetting with a complete privacy. 

Although Morata has learned to play alongside Ronaldo and can now hopefully settle down at Juve, Dybala’s form has tailed off in recent seasons since the legend arrived. Allegri must address this in the short-term as well as helping the next generation of Bianconeri players come on for the future.