Daniele Rugani Isn't a Problem for Juventus, He's the Future of the Club

While Juventus have struggled in 2015/16, there is little doubt that the Bianconeri have begun to turn the corner. Winning back-to-back league games for the first time just before the international break, they have climbed up to seventh place in the table and seem to be much improved.

Further reasons for optimism—including a look at their difficult schedule to date—are analysed in detail here, but there is one issue that continues to plague them. Daniele Rugani returned to Turin this summer, but poor results have prevented him seeing significant playing time for the Old Lady.

Indeed, the 21-year-old has been on the field just once, introduced as an 89th-minute substitute in the Champions League victory over Sevilla back in September. With their next matches coming against Milan and Manchester City, that is unlikely to change in the immediate future, leading to reported problems.

Juventus have struggled and are desperate for results, but in spite of the effects that being thrown into such a side could have on a youngster, Rugani has been quickly linked with a move away. Among others, Italian newspaper Tuttosport (h/t Football Italia) noted interest from Arsenal, Napoli and Manchester United when the transfer window opens in January.

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Yet doing so flies in the face of how Juventus have managed his career, first signing the defender back in 2012. After spending a year with the Bianconeri youth team, he returned to former club Empoli, where he would spend the next two seasons, helping them earn promotion to Serie A ahead of the 2014/15 campaign.

It was there that Rugani gained international recognition, playing every single minute of the season under then-coach Maurizio Sarri and managing to do so without receiving a single yellow card. Yet, even beyond that impeccable disciplinary record, there was so much more to admire about his first year in the top flight.

According to statistics from WhoScored.com, he averaged 1.4 tackles, 0.9 interceptions and seven clearances per game, also completing 88.3 percent of his 41.6 passes per game and scoring three goals.

With his loan brought to an end, the Bianconeri added him to coach Massimiliano Allegri’s squad, and Rugani knew the significance of that move. “Juventus have invested in young talent this summer and we are all keen to repay the trust shown in us,” the defender said at his inaugural press conference. “I have a great opportunity here but I won’t be taking anything for granted.”

Talk of ending that after just 16 games seems ludicrous, particularly as his contract runs until June 2019. Now learning the finer points of his role from the likes of Andrea Barzagli, Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini, his lack of playing time is little surprise given their continued presence at the club.

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Given they are arguably the three best central defenders in Serie A, Rugani was clearly not signed for what he can bring to the side immediately and is a much more long-term investment. Allegri called him “the future of Juventus” at a recent press conference, and urged him to be patient, something the player himself knows he must be.

“I’ve only just started at Juventus and I knew that it wouldn’t be easy,” Rugani said in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport just last month. "However, I must be ready when called upon.”

With almost two months until there is even the possibility of a transfer, his playing time could and should increase exponentially before then, and while everyone at Juventus is calm about the situation, that would quieten the external chatter.

Barzagli and Chiellini will be 35 and 32 respectively before the 2016/17 campaign begins, and Daniele Rugani is not only in the perfect place to improve before replacing them, he is the ideal player to do so.