Juventus FC: 5 Players Juventus Should Have Signed Since Calciopoli

Between Calciopoli and this summer, Juventus have spent €221.73 million on players according to Goal.com. Out of those players, only Antonio Nocerino, Cristian Molinaro, Paolo De Ceglie, Leonardo Bonucci, Milos Krasic, Marco Storari, Fabio Quagliarela, Simone Pepe, Alessandro Matri and Andrea Barzagli have been positive signings for Juventus. The money paid for them, plus the amounts paid for talented youngsters like Mario Kirev, adds up to €60.6 million.

That means €161.13 million of this money has been spent on players that have had little or no impact in the team and should have not been bought in the first place.

Here is a list of five players that were linked with Juventus and could have been signed. These players all together would cost €109 million and would have made the Juve squad one of the best in Europe. 

Antonio Di Natale

In the summer of 2007, Juventus had the choice of Vincenzo Iaquinta and Antonio Di Natale. While Iaquinta has spent most of his Juventus career on the sidelines, Di Natale has finished as the top scorer in Serie A for two consecutive seasons. He also holds the single-season goalscoring record of 30.

The biggest question for me is why would Juventus spend €11.25 million on Iaquinta when they could have signed Di Natale for €10 million?

I understand that Iaquinta was younger and had scored more goals, but we needed a replacement for Del Piero and not one for David Trezeguet. Di Natale could have fit perfectly behind Trezeguet and this would have made more sense.

Di Natale has scored 93 goals since that summer and is now seen as one of the best finishers in the world.

Luka Modric

There were rumors during the 2008 January transfer window that Juventus could have signed Luca Modric for around €15 million, however the team decided to wait until summer to try and get the player on the cheap. Fast forward four months and Tottenham snapped up the Croatian for €19 million.

After looking back at the players Juve have signed for their central midfielder role (Tiago, Poulsen, Melo, Almiron), I can't understand why Juventus didn't sign Modric for even €19 million. He would have become a mainstay in the starting lineup and would have also provided the team with some accurate passing, something the side has missed since coming back to Serie A.

Modric is now one of the best central midfielders in the world and is rated at around €30 million.  

Franck Ribery

While in 2007 Pavel Nedved was still playing, Juventus had many problems at the right side of the midfield. Mauro Camoranesi was extremely injury-prone and Marco Marchionni was simply not good enough. 

Franck Ribery had been expressing his desire to leave Marseille and Juventus seemed to be chasing the player; however before Juventus could make a real move, Ribery was signed by Bayern Munich for €35 million.

Had Juventus signed the Frenchman for the same amount, Juventus would have been fighting for the Scudetto (at least until Nedved retired).

Ribery is now one of the best wingers in the world and has scored 52 goals and assisted 72 others while in Bayern. 

Lassana Diarra

During the summer of 2008, there were rumors in Italy that Juventus were looking to sign Lassana Diarra for around €20 million. The summer passed and Juventus failed to sign the player, who joined Real Madrid for €23 million in the 2009 January transfer. 

Diarra is much better than all the defensive midfielders Juventus have signed since Calciopoli (Melo, Sissoko, Poulsen) both technically and mentally. He would have formed a great partnership with Luca Modric in the center of the Juventus midfield. 

Karim Benzema

During the summer of 2008, Juventus were linked with many strikers. In the end they had to choose between Karim Benzema and Amauri. Seeing that the Frenchman was a bit more expensive (€25 million), Juventus signed the Brazilian for €22.8 million and he has failed to impress.

Benzema signed for Real Madrid a year later, costing the spanish club €35 million. He has gone on to score 35 goals and assist 13 others.