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Grading last summer’s Juventus transfers a year later

By John Vaccaro

MADRID, SPAIN - FEBRUARY 20: Cristiano Ronaldo of Juventus looks dejected during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 First Leg match between Club Atletico de Madrid and Juventus at Estadio Wanda Metropolitano on February 20, 2019 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by TF-Images/TF-Images via Getty Images)
MADRID, SPAIN - FEBRUARY 20: Cristiano Ronaldo of Juventus looks dejected during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 First Leg match between Club Atletico de Madrid and Juventus at Estadio Wanda Metropolitano on February 20, 2019 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by TF-Images/TF-Images via Getty Images) /
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Juventus’ Italian defender Leonardo Bonucci reacts after his off-side goal was disallowed by the referee during the Italian Serie A football Match Atalanta Bergamo vs Juventus on December 26, 2018 at the Atleti Azzurri d’Italia stadium in Bergamo. (Photo by Marco BERTORELLO / AFP) (Photo credit should read MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP/Getty Images)
Juventus’ Italian defender Leonardo Bonucci reacts after his off-side goal was disallowed by the referee during the Italian Serie A football Match Atalanta Bergamo vs Juventus on December 26, 2018 at the Atleti Azzurri d’Italia stadium in Bergamo. (Photo by Marco BERTORELLO / AFP) (Photo credit should read MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP/Getty Images) /

Leonardo Bonucci: F

I thought that bringing Bonucci back was a mistake when Juve made the move, but even I didn’t think it would be this awful. The only reason I can’t say that Bonucci was the worst center back at Juve last season is because Martin Caceres was on the squad the second half of the year. Nobody on the team was directly responsible for allowing more goals. There were plenty of times throughout the season that he looked absolutely lost on the defensive end.

In my opinion the biggest strike against Bonucci this season is that it was this transfer which eventually led to Medhi Benatia leaving. Benatia was the better player of the two this season and losing him not only weakened Juve’s options in the starting lineup, but completely destroyed the squad’s depth at center back. That became a major issue near the end of the season when Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini dealt with injuries.

Juve sacrificed a promising young center back to bring Bonucci back to the team and his performances this season did absolutely nothing to convince me that he was worth it.

Emre Can: B

Can’s season didn’t get off to a great start. As has been the case with every incoming Juventus transfer other than Ronaldo in recent years, it took Can a little while to gain Allegra’s trust. To make matters worse for Can, he developed a thyroid issue shortly after he had earned that trust, which cost him nearly 2 months of the season. Upon his return it took a little while for him to fully regain his form, but once he did he settled in nicely at Juventus.

He managed to score 4 goals in 2019 and more importantly, was absolutely tremendous in the second leg against Atletico Madrid. The coverage that he provided for Juve’s defense in that match was a huge reason why Juve managed to advance to the quarterfinal this season. From there he continued to start regularly after proving he could be a valuable piece to this Juve squad.

Can’s season wasn’t the most impressive debut season Juve has seen, but with the context of his early health struggles and the fact that Juve didn’t pay a transfer fee for him, this was a pretty good first year for Can. At 25 years old it is likely that we still haven’t seen the best out of Can yet and he should have a bigger role to play in the future with Sami Khedira, Blaise Matuidi, and Miralem Pjanic all potentially on their way out of Torino.

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