Nine players Juventus allowed to leave too soon

While the financial benefit of selling is clear, and every squad only has so much room, offloading talent can come back to haunt even the biggest of clubs.

So here are nine players Serie A’s reigning champions, Juventus, perhaps should have held onto.

Thierry Henry

Signed: January 1999

Left: August 1999

Games played (goal scored): 19 (3)

Reason he left: Opportunity to link up once again with footballing mentor Arsene Wenger

Notable achievements post-exit: 1 x Champions League, 2 x Premier League, 2 x La Liga, 3 x FA Cup

Henry’s efforts for France at the 1998 World Cup, along with his goalscoring form for Monaco, earned the then 20-year-old a move to Juventus at the turn of 1999.

However the defensive discipline of Serie A proved difficult for Henry to adjust to, and just six months after moving to the Old Lady, he completed a transfer to Arsenal, which the forward maintains was his decision.

The Frenchman’s choice proved to be the right one as Henry developed into one of the world’s most prolific strikers, helping both Arsenal and Barcelona to numerous trophies during an immensely successful career.

He is also Arsenal’s all-time top goalscorer, with 228 goals.

Christian Vieri

Signed: 1996

Left: 1997

Games played (goal scored): 37 (14)

Reason he left: Good form attracted interest from Atletico Madrid

Notable achievements post-exit: 1 x Supercoppa Italiana, 1 x Coppa Italia, 1 x Uefa Cup Winners’ Cup

Vieri had represented five Italian clubs before his form for Atlanta got him the first big move of his career when Juventus came calling at the beginning of the 1996-1997 season.

The striker was impressive during his only campaign with the Turin side, helping the club to win the league and finishing as their joint top scorer.

Interest from Atletico Madrid, who themselves have done the La Liga and Copa del Rey double the previous year, saw Juve allow Vieri to depart for the Spanish side for €10 million. Just two years later he would become the most expensive footballer in the world when he moved from Lazio to Inter Milan thanks to his impressive goalscoring form.

Domenico Berardi

Signed: 2013

Left: 2015

Games played (goal scored): 0 (0)

Reason he left: Loaned back to Sassuolo for development

Notable achievements post-exit: 1 x Bravo Award

Considered to be one of the most talented young attackers in Europe, Juventus secured a real signing for the future when they brought in Berardi in 2013, agreeing on a co-ownership deal with Sassuolo.

The attacker spent the 2013-2014 season on loan with Sassuolo, a deal that was then extended to the 2014-2015 campaign, and the forward greatly impressed with hat-tricks against AC Milan and Fiorentina.

However, Juventus allowed Sassuolo to sign the Italian on a permanent deal in 2016, to help them snap up Simone Zaza from their Serie A rivals.

Aged just 24, Berardi is Sassuolo’s all-time top-scorer in Serie A with 50 goals.

Antonio Candreva

Signed: January 2010

Left: July 2010

Games played (goal scored): 20 (2)

 

Reason he left: Juventus didn’t exercise their right to permanently sign

Notable achievements post-exit: 1 x Coppa Italia

(Photo by Emilio Andreoli/Getty Images)

Juventus signed one of Italy’s brightest young talents in the winter window of 2010 when they brought in Candreva on a six-month loan, a deal that also came with the right to buy half of the winger’s contract.

The pacey attacker was a frequent player for the Old Lady during that season, as well, featuring in both Serie A and Europe on a regular basis. It was perhaps a bit of a shock for Candreva that Juventus decided against signing him on a permanent transfer.

Candreva would eventually move to Lazio from Udinese and became one of the division’s most deadly wide-men, scoring 45 goals.

Candreva has been with Inter since 2016, scoring 11 goals and providing 22 assists in 102 games so far.

Juan Pablo Sorin

Signed: 1995

Left: 1996

Games played (goal scored): 2 (o)

Reason he left: Could not break into the first team

Notable achievements post-exit: 4 x Argentine Primera Division, 1 x Copa do Brasil, 1 x Coupe de France

Juan Pablo Sorin was only 19 years old when Juventus came calling. The talented Argentinian impressed for his nation’s U-20 side at the 1995 World Youth Championship to earn the transfer.

Sorin would only spend one season with the Italian giants, though, and struggled to break into an already established line-up at the club. He was allowed to depart a year later for River Plate.

The versatile left-back would have been an excellent option for Juventus, though, as he proved after impressing for Brazilian side Cruzeiro and Villarreal, while also enjoying loans with Barcelona and PSG.

Michael Laudrup

Signed: 1983

Left: 1989

Games played (goal scored): 151 (35)

Reason he left: Only two non-Italians allowed in team XI at that time, Juventus had Platini and Boniek in front of him

Notable achievements post-exit: 5 x La Liga, 1 x Eredivisie, 1 x Copa del Rey, 1 x European Cup

Laudrup was originally signed by Juventus in 1983 but due to Zbigniew Boniek and Michel Platini being in the first-team squad, the decision was made to loan him to Lazio, where the Dane stayed for two years.

Returning to the Turin side in 1985, Laudrup struggled to adapt at Juventus and, even after Platini retired, he couldn’t quite get to grips with the job expected of him.

Fed up, Laudrup left for Barcelona in 1989. The playmaker would become one of the world’s best talents as he played a crucial role in Johan Cruyff’s ‘Dream Team’ at the Spanish side.

Kingsley Coman

Signed: July 2014

Left: August 2015

Games played (goal scored): 22 (1)

Reason he left: Huge financial gain for Juventus to part ways

Notable achievements post-exit: 3 x Bundesliga, 1 x DFB-Pokal

At just 22-years-old, Coman has already played for three of Europe’s biggest sides: Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich.

The Frenchman joined the Serie A giants on a free in 2014, and was a regular substitute for the team after appearing in 17 league games in his only campaign with the club.

It’s unlikely that Juventus will have wanted to part ways with Coman but when Bayern Munich offered an initial payment of £5.86m and £17.5m should they complete a permanent deal, the Old Lady couldn’t turn down the chance to turn a huge profit on a player they got for nothing.

Sebastian Giovinco

Signed: 1996

Left: January 2015

Games played (goal scored): 132 (20)

Reason he left: Lack of playing time with Juventus

Notable achievements post-exit: 1 x Canadian Championship, 1 x MLS Cup, 1 x MLS Supporters Shield

Giovinco started his career with the Old Lady but, despite two loan moves to Empoli and Parma, the pacey attacker struggled during his near 20 years in Turin to establish himself as a regular first-team player.

The now 32-year-old completed a transfer to MLS in January 2015, when he signed up with Toronto, and the striker became a hero for his new side, scoring 83 goals in 142 games and delivering the 2017 MLS Cup before moving on to Al-Hilal recently.

Perhaps the level of football has been easier for Giovinco but it also seems that, given the chance, the player could have made some kind of impact for his former side in Serie A.

And indeed, any kind of impact would have counted for more considering the feelgood factor attached to his status as a Juve youth product.

Dino Baggio

Signed: 1992

Left: 1994

Games played (goal scored): 49 (1)

Reason he left: Looking for regular playing time

Notable achievements post-exit: 2 x Uefa Cup, 1 x Coppa Italia, 1 x Supercoppa Italiana

The ‘other Baggio’ joined Juventus in 1992 and quickly became a regular in midfield for his new team, earning the favour of the supporters despite his previous ties to Torino.

Parma came calling two years later after Baggio had played only 17 league games in the 1993-1994 season, and although the midfielder initially rejected the deal, he changed his mind and signed on the dotted line. Incidentally, Parma nearly signed a certain Alessandro Del Piero instead of the midfielder.

Baggio would go on to make Juventus regret the sale as he became a linchpin in Parma’s incredible team that dominated in Europe for a few years and also constantly challenged in Serie A. He left in 2000, four years before the club was declared insolvent.

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