EXCLUSIVE Moggi: 'Serie A needs investment and a new mentality'
Love or hate him, Luciano Moggi knows his football. We sat down with him to talk about Juventus' financial and sporting growth, as well as a certain Paulo Dybala, the role of Italians in Serie A, the league's place in Europe... and Calciopoli.
Read on!
Read on!
In 2005 you managed to sign a huge deal with the Gheddafi family's Tamoil group. Back then, Juventus were one of the economic powers of the footballing world. Can they return to those levels, especially considering how well the club is doing right now?
That was a very important deal, we wanted to keep growing by following that path, we would have probably managed had it not been for Calciopoli. I don't know the details of the current management's plans, but I can say that the new stadium was one of our ideas, originally. Our model: English clubs, particularly Manchester United and Old Trafford, a fabulous stadium in every way and a major moneymaker, not just in terms of ticket sales but all the secondary sources of income too. The stadium we originally had in mind was slightly bigger than the current one, but calculating average attendance over the years led to opting for a 40.000-seater, which I think is more than enough for the moment".
What do you make of Juventus' plan to open a chain of hotels and restaurants all over the world, in order to boost the club's income?
I'm not familiar with it, you'd have to ask the current management. I would say, however, that ownership have handled the economic aspect of their task really well, they're as good as we were. From a sporting persepctive, on the other hand, the club is going through a great cycle in Italy, but has yet to reach the levels we did in Europe. Of course, I'm not saying that the club won't be able to in future.
Do you think that Italian football will be able to return to the top, judging by the current political and sporting climate?
It's difficult to say, we're not on a par with the other great leagues, Serie A needs investment and a change of mentality, and only Juventus are doing well from that point of view. We need to bet on young and Italian players to get out of this rough patch, and only Juve seem to have understood that, that's why they win all the time.
I personally think that it isn't nice to see teams play with eleven foreigners. When I was at Juve we built the team around a core of Italian players, and we added key foreign players to that, but the base always had to be Italian.
What do you think of Real Madrid and Barcelona, and their economic domination of the footballing landscape? Where does it all come from, are they being helped by banks, as some rumours claim?
I don't know anything about the banks, but they are two big clubs that can make huge acquisitions. They don't always turn out to be justified, some players are paid way too much, like Gareth Bale. Those players, however, have helped boost shirts sales and merchandising.
Should Juventus focus on buying big names, in order to boost its brand and merchandising as the Spanish clubs have done?
We could buy the likes of Trezeguet, Henry and Ibrahimovic. Today, however, it's hard, players of that level want to go to leagyes where they are paid more. That model isn't possible right now, the Bianconeri are building around young players and Italians to assemble a base that can be gradually developed and improved. Players like Buffon and Chiellini were already there back in my day and are still plying their trade today, proof that Italian players are fundamental and not easy to replace. I believe this is the right path to go down.
On what terms are you with Juventus, and do you like Paulo Dybala? Can he become one of the world's best players?
I'm still on excellent terms wiht both Juventus and Andrea Agnelli. I like Dybala very much, but let's not get carried away, it'll take time to understand where he can go. This kind of talk feels premature. He plays in Del Piero's old role, and he is, for the moment, doing very well and proving to deserve the shirt, and to be worthy of his predecessors. It's too early, however, to tell how far he can go.
Who do you prefer between Allegri and Conte?
They're both excellent coaches, I value both of them, and have no preference.
It's been nearly ten years since Calciopoli, what do you remember from that time, and do you feel like a patsy, a sacrificial lamb?
As I've already said, many people called the designators. They were then analyzed, and there wasn't anything truly compromising. I think the ones that were made on Inter's behalf were far more serious. Facchetti's son then sued me for slander, but I won. That said I think the whole affair is over, and I don't want to talk about someone who is no longer with us. All I can say is that Calciopoli was a case built out of nothing, out of something that wasn't a crime back then. No rules forbade a club executive from calling representatives of the Federation, or the referee designators.
Antonio Martines, translated by Edo Dalmonte
