While conventional wisdom may seem to be less and less conventional these days, old school sayings still can give some excellent guidelines to follow in these crazy times. As I was getting ready to write this preview column for Juventus’ summer transfer window, I kept thinking of things my grandfather used to tell me as I was growing up, especially “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” and “If you fail to plan, you’ve essentially planned to fail”- and needless to say it seems that these are part of Marotta and Paratici’s modus operandi going into this summer window.
 

While many fans are always eager to get the shiny new toy on the transfer market, it makes perfect sense for Juventus to try to give continuity to a team that has managed to win six Serie A titles in a row as well as making two out of the last three Champions League finals- despite losing contributors of the caliber of Antonio Conte, Arturo Vidal, Carlos Tevez and Paul Pogba along the way. 
 

Juventus has in fact gone out of their way to try to avoid losing another significant player this summer by signing Paulo Dybala to a very rich extension- despite only being 23, he now finds himself earning almost as much as Higuain and more than Buffon. While many Juventini don’t particularly like all of the personal branding that Dybala is currently promoting, it’s a very good development for the bianconeri that a player of his calibre feels he can do these types of initiatives in Turin without having to leave for another club like Paul Pogba did last summer.


 

In addition to Paulo Dybala, Juventus has also signed Mario Mandzukic- arguably the team’s most valuable player this season- to an extension. The former Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid striker has been probably the main reason Allegri’s new formation- which features all of Juventus’ best offensive weapons playing at the same time- has worked so well. Mandzukic is the embodiment of the word “Grinta” which has been a key attribute of many former fan favourites at Juventus. The bianconeri will now work on signing Alex Sandro to an extension as well, there needs to be urgency with this one since the Brazilian left back continues to attract interest from Manchester City.
 

In addition to signing some of the players they already owned to extensions, Juventus has exercised the options to buy both Juan Cuadrado and Mehdi Benatia. The now former Chelsea winger has really improved since joining Allegri’s squad- in the first season he scored some very important goals and more recently has really improved his tactical discipline- he no longer plays as the headless chicken that Mourinho struggled to incorporate into his squad at Chelsea. 
 

While many see investing significantly in Benatia as overkill considering Juventus’ other options in his role, it’s very hard to find quality centre backs on the market and the Moroccan defender is great insurance on Chiellini (who in recent years has struggled to stay healthy) and can be a good alternative to Andrea Barzagli who is finally starting to lose his battle to Father Time. Keeping Benatia should not stunt Rugani’s growth or make the former Empoli defender available on the market, he’s seen as a too important piece for the future for Juventus to give up on him easily.


 

Juventus also got a jump start to the upcoming window during the January mercato. Tomas Rincon was signed from Genoa right before the formation change which has hurt his chances to play, but the Venezuelan midfielder is expected to find more space in the future. In addition to Rincon, Juventus also signed winger Riccardo Orsolini (who could end up being a great consolation prize for Domenico Berardi) and standout Atalanta centre back Mattia Caldara. It was smart of Juventus to keep both players at their current squads to continue to get playing time where they were comfortable. Orsolini will likely join a new team for next season, while Caldara will stay at Atalanta at least until the summer of 2018, where he’ll play with another Juventus owned player in promising left back Leonardo Spinazzola.
 

So Juventus has certainly planned ahead of time for this summer by making some moves in January and creating the conditions to keep their best players. But what about the shiny new toys- what can Juventus fans and haters expect from Marotta and Paratici this summer? Not surprisingly they have prioritised some players that would fill some positions long term where the current starter is older- with right back and winger position being the most pressing needs.
 

With Dani Alves and Stephan Lichtsteiner in the twilight of their careers, Juventus needs to find a right back of the future. They have mainly targeted Mattia De Sciglio, who can play on both sides of the pitch. While the Milan defender has been around for quite some time, he’s still only 24 and already has the experience  of playing for a big club and has over thirty caps for Italy. While there’s no denying he has struggled in recent years, many should also consider how Andrea Pirlo and Max Allegri were viewed in their last seasons at Milan too. Juventus is looking to take advantage of the fact that De Sciglio’s contract expires next year to get favourable terms in the deal.


 

Lazio winger Keita Balde finds himself in a somewhat similar predicament to De Sciglio. He also has an expiring contract, and while he has many suitors (some of which who could offer him more playing time) Juventus is banking on the fact that he wants to join them to make up for the fact that their relationship with Lazio isn’t particularly good. Keita could become the long term replacement for Mandzukic and would allow Juventus to shift the Croatian back to central striker in case of an injury and to rotate with Higuain- it’s also important to remember Juventus currently has no backups for offensive positions since the formation change and Marko Pjaca’s injury.
 

Speaking of the formation change, it has made landing a top notch midfielder less of a priority for Juventus. While Allegri probably can’t bank on Sami Khedira to be as healthy as this season moving forward, he already has Claudio Marchisio as a bench player and Rincon has barely played. These developments may have halted the momentum in the negotiation to sign Corentin Tolisso from Lyon, a player who would be very expensive and wouldn't’t be assured of a starting role in the short term.
 

As an alternative to Tolisso, Juventus has once again started the contacts to sign Leandro Paredes, who is coming off an up and down season at Roma. Marotta and Paratici pursued the former Empoli midfielder last January and could try to tempt the giallorossi new sporting director Monchi to sacrifice him to balance the budget now that he’s targeting Ajax,s Klaasen and wants to bring back Pellegrini from Sassuolo.


 

It wouldn't’t be a summer transfer window if Juventus didn't’t try to pull of a blockbuster- and during the conversations with Paredes’ agent they have also kicked the tyres on the Angel Di Maria situation. The Argentine winger has been linked to Juventus on and off since the Conte days, and this is the first time where it feels at least somewhat realistic that they could sign him.



Another option for the attack is Sampdoria’s Patrik Schick, a player somewhat reminiscent of a young Ibrahimovic, but there’s a ton of competition for him- should Juve be able to win the race, he would however likely stay at Sampdoria one more season.

Because of the fact Juventus has such a strong squad as is, it’s not surprising to see their shopping list be considerably smaller than other top Serie A teams. They have also anticipated some moves in January to ensure that this summer they are dealing from a position of strength- while we do live in an era where everything changes at a rapid pace, making the next right decision a few times in a row is still the best route to success and Juventus continues to do so.


David Amoyal