Summer Signings

[maresca]

Okay, so i'm sure i'm not the first one to say our summer transfer campaign was a bit flat to say the least. We failed to get Alonso and van der vaart (both available at bargain prices) and got lumped with Poulsen. Ekdal and Iago have brightened summer of gloom buit all in all it was a bit hit and miss. Despite that, we have a large squad with some emerging talent and some trusted old legs.

What do guys think ? Who was the best signing of the summer ? Will the club splash the cash in January ? Will Tiago EVER leave the club or is he destined to continue his toilet games ?

[Jimmy]

Tiago won't leave till he dies, and I hope not all the cash is spent in the winter cause the prices are higher in the winter than in the summer. That being said, so new faces could deffo help the squad which seems to feature only the same players.

[alessio]

Well, a fellow Juventino suggested a perfect explanation for our transfer market. I was relatively satisfied at the conclusion although I would have liked to have brought Criscito back, but his idea is even better.

We basically filled in positions where we did not have youth coming through, so in essence our mercato gives our young superstars their chance to shine. Many clubs don't give them a chance, Juve didn't used to.

Instead of Xabi Alonso as our passer/all-around CM, we have Marchisio
Instead of Diego/VdV as our trequartista/fantasista, we have Giovinco
Instead of Grosso, we have De Ceglie.

Poulsen was brought in to add more muscle to the midfield. Sissoko replaced Nocerino as our young DM of the future, but we needed more after tiago/almiron flopped. To think Poulsen only cost 2million euros more than we sold Nocerino for, that's amazing. He has immense experience at every level.
Amauri was brought in to add to our attack, as with an injury it would be stretched. We also don't have a Prima Punta (strong tall striker) in our youth squad.
Mellberg was brought in as additional defensive reinforcements. For free, he was a coup. Immensely experienced, former captain of Sweden, all on a Bosman.

I think we did good work. I wish we had sold Tiago/Almiron but so it goes. Swapping Tiago for Appiah (loan+free transfer) would have been terrific.

[maresca]

Good point Alessio, well made.

Marchisio played well against Fiorentina, it would have been nice to see Giovinco get at least 15 minutes on the pitch.
We do seem to have plugged a lot of holes in the side and on reflection, while we did not go and declare our interest in the 'big' players, we did ok in the transfer market.

Perhaps what I found difficult to accept was our main compeitiors all made at least one extravagant signing - Milan with Ronnie (and shevva to a lesser extent), Inter with Mancini and Quaresma, Roma with the beast (I think Menez will work well for them as well) and Fiorentina with Gilardino. I suppose our equivalent was Amauri but we knew he was coming before the season ended.

I still firmly believe we will proove a lot of people wrong this season, but if we fail miserably, fans will be quick to use the lack of big signings against the board.