Juventus plan team of the future using Cristiano Ronaldo
Federico Chiesa, Nicolò Zaniolo and Cristian Romero are seen as the Old Lady's priorities, with experienced players to be used in their development.
In recent years, Juventus has clearly been the dominant side in Serie A. And every year the club pulls together much of the best talent in the Italian league, and further afield, just as Bayern Munich does in Germany. One tactic they have used has been to keep an eye on players of interest whose contracts are running close to expiry, allowing them to tempt them in without having to fork out excessive transfer fees. An example of this was seen last summer, when they brought in Emre Can from Liverpool on a free and then focused their spend on Cristiano Ronaldo.
Cristiano and co to mould Juve of the future
And it is around their new Portuguese hero that the Vecchia Signora want to build a team for the future. There is an understanding at the club that their number seven doesn't have too many years of top-end football left in the tank, so the idea is to bring in younger players who have proven themselves past the point of just showing potential promise, a much riskier strategy. In the same way they identified Emre Can, next season they will bank on Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal) at zero cost for the transfer. The club's three other main objectives to close for the next campaign are Cristian Romero (20), Federico Chiesa (21) and Nicolà Zaniolo (19).
The Argentine centre-half for Genoa, Romero, is already very close to a move, with an agreement for 30 million euros almost confirmed. The plan is that he will act as longer-term cover for Medhi Benatia, who left in January and was replaced by Martín Cáceres, but just on loan till the end of the season.
As for the other two, Italian paper Tuttosport states on their Friday front cover that they are both prioritie for Juventus. The Fiorentina winger is taking the league by storm, with ten goals and six assists in his 24 games so far. He's also been handed the captaincy despite his tender years. Zaniolo debuted with Roma this season and has slowly taken his chance to stake his claim as a starter in midfield. Three goals and two assists in 20 matches is a fair return and he has been involved in all but one of his side's Champions League matches to date.
So, with the likes of Cristiano, Dybala, Pjanic, Bonucci, Chiellini in his ranks, Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri seeks to surround new young stars with their experience so that it helps mould them for continued sense. It remains to be seen what they offer for their services, however, and if their respective clubs can do anything to hold onto them.