When Juventus manager Luciano Spalletti stepped up to the microphone for his first press conference of the 206-27 season, he had been on the training fields of Continassa for the past five days with a team that looks a lot like the one that finished outside of the Champions League places a few months earlier. Players from the last two summer windows who have been massive letdowns were there, as were those who were part of the squad that finished in sixth place and booked its ticket to the Europa
League.
Spalletti knew the disappointment that came with it.
And he also made the realities of everything that has happened during his nine months in charge and a slow-developing summer mercato under new leadership (again) known at the aforementioned press conference on Friday.
“We’re analyzing a championship where we didn’t achieve the desired result, but it’s not a bad one. We did many things well, and the content was right. There are some areas where we need to improve, such as maintaining the same level of behavior, the same quality we’ve shown in some performances.
“This year, we’re confident and in a position to believe that if we work the right way, we can compete for the Champions League, because that’s what awaits us and we want to compete for a high place in the table. But we can’t make any mistakes. We’re quite far away from the Scudetto right now.”
(All quotes via IlBianconero.com)
That last part — it’s that last part that is the brutal honesty that isn’t much of a surprise but also the reality that this Juventus team faces. They are not in the Champions League, and finishing so far off the pace as well as not qualifying for the UCL in the way that they did just shows the current state of this squad.
And it’s a squad that has barely changed in terms of arrivals
“There’s a lot of work to do, but I’m confident it will be done because we want to refine the squad, including what’s missing, and we’re all in agreement on the direction we need to take. We’ll encounter some difficulties based on last year’s league table, but I see the directors as very committed and I believe they’ll be capable of fixing what we need.”
[…]
“We’ll try to get things done as quickly as possible. The transfer market is open, and we have to learn to live with it. It’s possible that some players will leave; given last year’s poor results, we might be forced to sell someone, but we’ll be ready. It might be that one evening at 8 p.m., you’ll find a notification about a new player signed, as happened yesterday. Strong clubs know how to surprise players sometimes, and what happened yesterday highlights that. Revealing names in advance creates complications in negotiations, so I congratulate the directors.”
Juventus have signed just two players so far this summer — young striker Jeff Ekhator from Genoa and fullback Zeki Çelik, who arrived on a free transfer from Roma on Thursday after the Bianconeri swooped in out of nowhere. There have been plenty of rumors
When it comes to those two players, though, Spalletti has high hopes — especially for the 19-year-old Ekhator.
“Çelik is a player with character, certainly reliable with the attitude of a warrior, and I think it was a good idea for Juventus to bring him home. He won’t have any problems settling in because he’s an experienced player, a very good guy, and will be easy to integrate. Jeff is a huge potential player that the club and the directors were good at bringing in because he has the qualities of a modern striker with the characteristics of a complete No. 9. He’s at an age where he still needs time to develop, and he’s clearly strong in some areas because he’s had them since he was born. He needs to complete a complete training program, and he’s incredibly motivated. We stayed together at the end of training, and you can see his eyes light up at being part of this squad.”
Spalletti is in a situation in which two of Juventus’ most important players, forward Kenan Yildiz and midfielder Khephren Thuram, entered the summer with lingering knee issues that may not be totally resolved. We know Thuram is dealing with something that hasn’t gone away, as he reportedly returned early to get evaluated at J Medical compared to the rest of his teammates and was not called up for Saturday’s friendly against FC Basel in Switzerland.
Yildiz will return from his post-World Cup holiday next week. Throughout Turkiye’s disappointing group stage performances, Yildiz looked a lot like he did during the final weeks of Juventus’ season, and the wraps on his troublesome knee indicated that said issue was not completely behind him just yet.
“(Thuram) has to follow this differentiated work path and at the moment he is finding improvements in his difficulty.”
[…]
“We have a top-notch staff, and we’re waiting for (Yildiz) with open arms because he means many things to us. Based on what we’ve discussed, Yildiz will return and will almost be ready to rejoin the squad. He needed some rest, and I think this has benefited from what we’ve discussed. If necessary, he’ll be given a work schedule tailored to his needs, and we’ll also follow a differentiated approach.”
One player who isn’t at Juventus this summer is striker Dusan Vlahovic, whose contract expired at the end of June and has not signed as a free agent yet. While rumors continue to pop up about just how possible it might be for Juventus to circle back to Vlahovic, the financial demands that the Serbian striker and his agent still have out there have clearly turned some teams away — and are likely a huge reason as to why he’s still without a club as teams begin preseason preparations on the training fields.
When asked about Vlahovic, Spalletti said that he has not spoken to him since the 2025-26 season came to an end back in May.
“I’ve done what I’m responsible for; I make technical assessments. The financial aspect isn’t my responsibility. I haven’t spoken to him since the end of the season, but he knows my opinion on him. Our directors always keep their office doors open, but you have to ring the intercom to get in.”
Ultimately, according to Spalletti, everybody needs to be better if Juventus are to finish higher up the table — himself included. As he begins his first preseason training camp at Continassa, he knows the work is plentiful even as the squad feels quite unfinished ahead of their first friendly of the summer.
“I need to coach better than I did last season. Good examples always come from creating evidence, demonstrating behavior. We know our squad needs to be strengthened or enhanced, and in some areas probably even completed. We all know that. We need to do a thorough job, knowing that the timing dictated by the World Cup could pose a challenge. This is also because we have little time, and it would be good to have it as soon as possible. There are objective difficulties that all teams face. We’re in the transfer market cooling-off period.”
[…]
“We’ve analyzed what happened, what we weren’t able to do. But the path we’re on is the right one; it’s the pace we’ve taken, the pace we’ll have to take that definitely needs to change. Knowing how to break away, knowing how to stand tall and break away when needed is the most important thing. Juventus isn’t made to just hang on; we have to know how to make these breakthroughs.”
Spalletti extended his contract with Juventus through 2028 back in April.
