Juventus FC: Are the Bianconeri Ready to Rejoin Europe's Elite?

It's a truth that can't be denied: Juventus FC have been on a painful decline over the last couple of years.

Many Juventus fans generally point to Calciopoli as the reason for all that is bad and evil within the club, and to an extent, they are right.

Calciopoli hit Juventus right when they were on top of the footballing world, hurt the club financially, led to a mass exodus of some of the biggest players in the world and worst of all, scarred the historic Italian club's reputation.

But Calciopoli took place in 2006, about five season ago. It's effects still hover around the club, but Juventus have since managed a third place finish in their first season back in Serie A and went one better in 2008-09 to finish second.

So clearly Calciopoli can't be the only factor to blame for Juventus' recent decline.

And sure enough, it isn't. First of all, Juventus have been awful in the transfer market since the summer of 2007-08.

Vincenzo Iaquinta for €11.3 million, Jorge Andrade for €10 million, Amauri for €22.6 million, Poulsen for €9.75 million, Diego for €27 million, Felipe Melo for €25 million and Jorge Martinez for €12 million all represent expensive flops that have come through the club's doors since then.

Now, Amauri and Iaquinta sit firmly rooted to the Juventus bench, Andrade has retired due to injury problems, Poulsen has moved from the Juventus bench to Liverpool's, Diego is looking to join his fourth club in four years, Felipe Melo has just been loaned out to Galatasaray, and Jorge Martinez joins the two aforementioned strikers on the Juventus bench as another backup striker/winger.

Secondly, Juventus have been unable to find a quality manager who can lead the club to success since Didier Deschamps.

Claudio Ranieri was instrumental in leading Juventus to third and second place finishes in their first two seasons back in Serie A but never had enough ambition to fulfill the goals set for a club as big as Juventus.

Following his departure, Ciro Ferrera, Alberto Zaccheroni and Luigi Delneri all failed to achieve anything of note, and were dismissed after a season or less with the club.

Looking ahead to the 2011-12 season for Juventus however, it seems like everything is set to change.

First of all, the firing of hated director of football Alessio Secco and the relegation of ex-Chairman and President Jean-Claude Blanc to nothing more than an executive role with the club has seen the club improve dramatically in the transfer market.

Although last summers' transfers weren't all great, Juventus managed to bring in Fabio Quagliarella and Alessandro Matri on loan, Leandro Bonucci for €15.5 million and Milos Krasic for €15 million, all of which look likely to be worthwhile signings for Juventus.

And this summer, Juventus have shown that they've finally returned to the years of intelligent, rather than haphazard and overpriced, buying in the transfer market.

Quagliarella and Matri have been tied down to permanent deals for €15 million and €18 million respectively, ensuring that Juventus has at least two promising potent strikers in their squad going into 2011-12.

Pirlo was stolen from right under the noses of AC Milan on a free transfer, in what must be one of the biggest and most underrated transfer coups of the summer.

Juventus have finally addressed their fullback issues adequately and brought in Reto Ziegler and Stephen Lichtsteiner, two very classy fullbacks who've proven themselves in Serie A.

And most recently, they've signed Arturo Vidal for a cool €10.5 million, ensuring they finally have a dependable and world class box-to-box midfielder, a role that Melo, Sissoko, Poulsen and many more have failed in since the years of Patrick Viera.

Juventus' current starting lineup, if no more signings were made, should look something like this:

Gianluigi Buffon

Stephan Lichtsteiner - Leandro Bonucci - Giorgio Chiellini - Reto Ziegler

Simone Pepe - Arturo Vidal - Andrea Pirlo - Milos Krasic

Fabio Quagliarella - Alessandro Matri

Although Simone Pepe isn't one of the best wingers out there and Fabio Quagliarella is just recovering from from torn ligaments in his knee, that starting lineup is easily one of the best three lineups in Serie A and should be challenging for the title come next season.

Secondly, Antonio Conte seems to be the right man for the job at Juventus. Looking at Juventus' previous appointments, none of them have looked very convincing.

Ciro Ferrera had had no club experience before being appointed, and Alberto Zacherroni had a rather poor resume on club level prior to his appointment. Ranieri had the resume but as mentioned before, never had the ambition to match Juventus' goals.

Delneri was probably the best pick of the group but was unable to connect with all the egos in the Juventus squad and get the team to perform.

Conte however has everything needed to succeed. He's a Juventus legend, meaning many of the players will already look up to him.

But unlike Ciro Ferrera, who was also a Juventus legend, Conte joins right after leading Siena to the Serie B title, meaning he has very recently tasted success and will have a hunger for more success than Ciro Ferrera never exhibited.

Already, numerous Juventus players have praised their new manager. Andrea Pirlo has stated that Conte's enthusiasm and desire to win remind him of Marcelo Lippi and Giorgio Chiellini has stated that Conte's approach has impressed him and his teammates.

Simone Pepe has also praised his coach, and Lichtsteiner has said that Conte was the reason he moved to Juventus.

Everything is set in place for Juventus to succeed in 2011-12. The spirit in the club is more cheerful and ambitious than it has ever been since Calciopoli, and the players all believe in the club's goals and potential.

Will this be the year that Juventus finally emerge from the shadows of Calciopoli and reestablish themselves on the world stage?