3 talking points from Juventus's January transfer window | Serie A 2019-20
As the market is becoming more and more inflated with each passing window, clubs have become more cautious in terms of signing new players and it wasn't any different this January as very few marquee signings were made by clubs across Europe.
Many clubs now feel that it is more profitable to do business in the summers rather than in between an ongoing season. And it is fair to say that Italian champions Juventus followed the trend as they didn't make any substantial big-name signing during the January window.
While title-rivals Inter Milan were immensely active for the entirety of the transfer window as they were linked with many big names throughout including the likes of Oliver Giroud, Christian Eriksen, and Ashley Young, it's fair to say that Juventus particularly had a very quiet window.
With that in mind, let's have a look at the three talking points from Juventus's January transfer business:
#3. Injuries may hamper their title charge
The Italian Champions have acquired a status for their splendid defense over the course of the last few years. But now, with their best defender Giorgio Chiellini still out and summer signing Merih Demiral also out for the rest of the season with an ACL injury of his own, Juventus only have three senior defenders in their squad.
Although Chiellini is set to return in mid-March, the club's only first-team options right now are Matthijs de Ligt, vice-captain Leonardo Bonucci, and Daniele Rugani, and the club is now only one injury away from being extremely short at the back.
Given the fact, that the club is still in three competitions including the Serie A, the Champions League, and the Coppa Italia, defensive shortcomings could really harm their silverware hopes.
#2. Dejan Kulusevski could prove to be a bargain
The only substantial signing that the Italian Champions made this January was Dejan Kulusevski from Atalanta, and they immediately loaned him to Parma for the rest of the season.
Juventus forked out around £30 million plus bonuses on the Swedish midfielder. He is one of the hottest young prospects in Europe right now and has the potential to be a star for the Old Lady for many more upcoming years.
Kulusevski is a versatile midfielder who has excellent passing, explosive pace and an ability to create goalscoring opportunities for his teammates. With improved decision making, the Swedish midfielder could turn out to be a real star in the future.
#1. A playmaker is a necessity
Juventus needed to sign a playmaker this winter, but they opted not to and given their recent struggles to create anything solid from the midfield, they would have been better signing one.
There seems to be no real link between the midfield and the attack in their games and the Serie A outfit relies heavily on crosses from wider areas to score goals these days. Although they did sign Kulusevski from Atlanta, the midfielder is more of a box-to-box player than a playmaker and he is still very young anyway, and out on loan.
In a market where Inter Milan signed Christian Eriksen for just £17 million, the Old Lady should have tried harder to lure the Dane to the Allianz Stadium rather than giving Inter a free run at him and it could possibly come back to haunt them.
Also read: Giorgio Chiellini named in Juventus' Champions League squad