An unprecedented six in a row for Juventus

While Paul Pogba leaving Juventus for Manchester United in the summer of 2016 hardly came as a surprise, Italian football was left in a state of shock when the Old Lady reinvested nearly all of the world-record €105 million transfer fee in Napoli striker Gonzalo Higuain.

The Argentine attacker had just broken Serie A’s single season goals record but he was 28 and, far more importantly, Partenopei president Aurelio De Laurentiis had no intention of selling his star striker to the club’s most hated rivals.

However, Juve remarkably agreed to meet the €90m buy-out clause in Higuain’s contract and the former Real Madrid man was only too happy to move to Turin, sparking uproar in Naples.

The Bianconeri had bought Higuain to win the Champions League and they very nearly ended their 21-year wait for European glory, but they once again fell at the final hurdle, this time against Real Madrid.

As it was, they were forced to settle for another historic domestic campaign, becoming the first Italian side ever to win six successive Scudetti, and three consecutive doubles.

CHANGES

As well as signing Napoli’s best player in Higuain, Juve did likewise to Roma by activating Miralem Pjanic’s release clause for a bargain €32m, while strengthening their defence with Medhi Benatia and, even more significantly, Barcelona legend Dani Alves, who arrived on a free.

There was also plenty of new faces at Inter, including Ever Banega, Joao Mario and Antonio Candreva, but most of them arrived after the departure of Roberto Mancini, who had grown frustrated with the club’s refusal to sign his primary transfer targets.

Frank de Boer was installed as the Italian’s successor just before the start of the new season and, therefore, forced to work with players he would never have bought, chief among them Santos starlet Gabigol, the first statement signing made by the club’s new Chinese owners, the Suning Group.

Milan also had a new boss in Vincenzo Montella but the Rossoneri had…

Source link : https://www.footballcritic.com/season-reviews/an-unprecedented-six-in-a-row-for-juventus-serie-a-in-2016-17/92

Author : [email protected] (Martin Macdonald)

Publish date : 2024-08-03 13:00:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.