(Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
The arrivals of Diego Ribas da Cunha and Fabio Cannavaro from Werder Bremen and Real Madrid respectively sent a terse message to Juventus fans and rivals alike: this time we're serious.
Much maligned transfer director Alessio Secco has been viewed equal parts as a joke or as a disaster, and indeed, his work up to the culmination of the last season did very little to defend his name.
It was quite a surprise, then, when Secco triumphantly closed the long-running Diego saga, and brought much-needed experience to the Juventus lineup in the form of Fabio Cannavaro.
For the first time in months, the spirits of Juventus fans were sky-high. Ciro Ferrara, a beloved former player, was now the coach. The last two games of the season were comfortable victories, in contrast to the two previous months where Juve had failed to win a single game.
Fans began to believe that finally, the management was serious about challenging for top honors in the coming season. After all, notoriously poor purchases such as Sergio Almiron were hardly the sort to topple Inter Milan from its position at the top of the table.
It was finally a bold purchase—no more "settling" for the lesser player. Unlike with the Xabi Alonso case last summer, the management didn't settle for another Cristian Poulsen, they agreed to pay the full value of an expensive player.
This was progress, the fans were sure.
A month and a half later, fans are frustrated. The transfer saga of Gaetano D'Agostino has put to shame the drama over the purchase (potential or actual) of Amauri, Xabi Alonso, Diego, and Rafael Van Der Vaart.
The "will he?/won't he?" drama ensued for the better part of two months, and in the end, has fallen through, with both Bianconeri clubs unable to see eye-to-eye over the player's value. Real Madrid, Juventus’ long-time European rivals and recent mega-spenders, are now linked with D’Agostino’s signature.
While some fans are impressed with Secco's toughness with Udinese patron Giampaolo Pozzo, others are aware of a very plain, yet very important fact: Juventus did not get the man to fit into Ciro Ferrara's 4-3-1-2 system as a central playmaker.
With Fiorentina’s Felipe Melo almost certain to arrive, the fact remains that the Brazilian will not play the role of the midfield orchestrator who spreads passes around the pitch.
Ciro Ferrara’s appointment was compared by many to the case of Pep Guardiola at Barcelona, yet the fact remains that Ferrara’s Melo is nothing like Guardiola’s Xavi.
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