How Juventus could line up under Maurizio Sarri this season
A lot has happened at the Old Lady in recent weeks. Maurizio Sarri was named as the Bianconeri's new manager, and in addition to him, the chiefs at Turin have continued to acquire talent to push the club to the upper echelons of European football.
The Italian champions have, on free transfers, snapped up former goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon from Paris Saint-Germain alongside his teammate in Paris, Adrien Rabiot. Aaron Ramsey also made the switch to Juventus after he decided no to renew his contract at Arsenal.
Juventus have also spent approximately £135 million on purchasing a new breed of defenders. They have brought in 21-year-old centre-back Merih Demiral from Sassuolo, 20-year-old left-back Luca Pellegrini from AS Roma, and 21-year-old centre-back Cristian Romero from Genoa. Most recently, the Matthijs de Ligt transfer saga has finally ended as Juventus remained firmly ahead of the race to buy the 19-year-old and eventually settled Ajax with around £77 million.
It really isn't surprising that Juventus haven't bought any forwards. With an ageless Cristiano Ronaldo, a capable Gonzalo Higuain, and a list of other world-class forwards that include Federico Bernardeschi and Moise Kean, there's really no need to purchase a striker or wing-forward.
In total, the Bianconeri have added seven new players to the squad. While some of them - like Demiral and Romero - might not make starting XI any time soon, some players were certainly brought in to close loopholes in the first team.
Finally, taking a look at Sarri and his personified Sarri-ball, supporters at Turin can expect to see attractive attacking football of the highest class - the sort Maurizio Sarri is known for. The former Chelsea gaffer is unlikely to change his sensational style of play, and will certainly maintain his 4-3-3 formation.
Without further ado, let us look at how Sarri could line up his Juventus players in the coming season.
#4 Between the sticks - Wojciech Szczesny
Sarri would not have any need to make any changes in this position. Even with Buffon's return to Turin, it is unlikely that much will change for the supporters between the sticks.
Wojciech Szczesny has been a strong shot-stopper for the Turin giants, and while hearts may lie with 41-year-old Buffon, Sarri would most certainly keep Szczesny for very important matches. The younger goalkeeper is confident in goal and will adapt to being part of the ball possession and planning attacks in Sarri's style of play.
Buffon will, however, remain a potential starter, especially if the Szczesny fails to live up to Sarri's expectations. No matter what Sarri's decision for this role is, the former Napoli manager would have world-class goalkeepers to choose from, and that sounds better than the alternative.