Luciano Spalletti admitted that Juventus hadn’t accomplished all of their goals during the summer transfer window, but seemed serene about moving forward with the team he now has.
“It’s true, we didn’t do everything we wanted in the transfer market,” he told reporters during his pre-match press conference on Saturday, “but it did allow us to improve our squad. We’ve got new faces to fit into the whole, but also different opportunities to make us stronger.”
That said, it didn’t seem as though Spalletti
had much in the way of resentment toward the front office for how the market turned out. “I have always been called a company man,” he said. “I rarely say bad things about my directors, because you need to live with the difficulties and find solutions.” He also pointed out the team’s financial difficulties, particularly FFP issues, as a main reason the club could do “some things and not others” during the window.
That said, he seemed pleased with deadline-day acquisition Nick Woltemade from Newcastle United. “Woltemade is a player who gives us further options, both going vertically and horizontally…it seems in the few moments I’ve worked with him that he knows both how to drop deep, but also cut out his space as a striker…He has characteristics that can be of great use to us, if we use them the right way.”
Concerning Juve’s matchup with AC Milan on Sunday, Spalletti had nothing but praise for new Milan manager Ruben Amorim:
Ruben Amorim has very recognisable set of tactical principles, which we could already appreciate when he was at Sporting. Milan are an immediate team, they go for the vertical passes and quick transitions.
“It forces you to match their engine, because otherwise you risk turning up late to the ball. If you can read the movement ahead of time, that can be useful, as their aggression must be used against them and not become a source of fear.
“It is going to be a fascinating game because it is Juventus-Milan. Naturally, we’ll try to take the initiative and express our desire for victory.
Both teams have started with two wins from two, but Juve are coming into the contest with fewer options. Spalletti confirmed that no fewer than seven players would miss out on Sunday’s contest. Kenan Yildiz and Khéphren Thuram will be missing long term—so much so in the latter’s case that he was left off the team’s initial 25-man squad for Serie A on Saturday, along with Arkadiusz Milik, who was bumped down the depth chart after Woltemade’s arrival.
Apart from them, Weston McKennie is still training separately, Jeff Ekhator continues his recovery from the thigh problem he suffered in the team’s first pre-season friendly against Basel, Andrea Cambiaso continues to rehab the ankle sprain he suffered last week against Parma, and Juan Cabal faces another spell on the sidelines after an injury in training. New signing Pape Matar Sarr also continues recovering from a muscle problem he had before his move.
In spite of the absences, Spalletti seemed sure that the team was still “in a position to play like Juventus.”
