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Grading every Juventus offseason move

By John Vaccaro

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN - AUGUST 10: Matthijs de Ligt of Juventus during a match in the International Champions Cup between Atletico de Madrid and Juventus FC at Friends Arena on August 10, 2019 in Stockholm, Sweden. (Photo by Michael Campanella/Getty Images)
STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN - AUGUST 10: Matthijs de Ligt of Juventus during a match in the International Champions Cup between Atletico de Madrid and Juventus FC at Friends Arena on August 10, 2019 in Stockholm, Sweden. (Photo by Michael Campanella/Getty Images) /
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SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE – JULY 21: Joao Cancelo of Juventus in action during the International Champions Cup match between Juventus and Tottenham Hotspur at the Singapore National Stadium on July 21, 2019 in Singapore. (Photo by Pakawich Damrongkiattisak/Getty Images)
SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE – JULY 21: Joao Cancelo of Juventus in action during the International Champions Cup match between Juventus and Tottenham Hotspur at the Singapore National Stadium on July 21, 2019 in Singapore. (Photo by Pakawich Damrongkiattisak/Getty Images) /

Cancelo-Danilo swap: F

Just when you though Juventus couldn’t blow it anymore in the month of August they went and swapped Joao Cancelo for Danilo. I have a ton of issues with this move. The first issue is why Juventus even took Danilo as part of this deal.

They should have rejected that offer and told Manchester City they just wanted money for Cancelo. At least that would have made sense. Danilo hasn’t been anything more than a backup at City or Real Madrid (and wasn’t particularly good when Real was forced to play him). So what exactly did Juve gain by bringing him in?

I’d have rather seen Mattia de Sciglio become the starting right back, but apparently Juve would rather waste 37 million euros on Danilo, loan out Luca Pellegrini, and make De Sciglio the backup left back.

There must’ve been somebody else out there that Juve could have massively overpaid for. 37 million euros for a guy who couldn’t break into the starting lineup at the two biggest clubs he played for is ridiculous. For comparison, De Sciglio cost Juve 12 million, is arguably better than Danilo, and was at least starting regular at AC Milan.

There must be somebody more reasonably priced out there who Juventus could have brought in. For 37 million euros there should be plenty of options for right backs who are actually worth a starting spot. I’d have even been okay with Juve just bringing in somebody to back De Sciglio up and holding onto the money for a future move.

The worst part of this is that it strengthened Manchester City. For a team that claims their #1 priority is winning the Champions League right now, Juventus didn’t seem to hesitate when given the chance to help one of their top competitors for that trophy and weaken their own squad.

Cancelo is very talented and for long stretches of last season was the best right back in Italy. The last thing Juve needs is for a team like City to have even more talented players like Cancelo.

This deal was a mess, I didn’t like anything about, and I don’t understand why Juve accepted it.

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