What Sebastian Giovinco's Early Exit from Juventus Means for Turin Club

It was a move announced with great fanfare, Toronto FC maximising their exposure following their capture of Juventus striker Sebastian Giovinco. The MLS club had not only agreed a deal with the 28-year-old, but they had also managed to bring him to Canada in time for the start of the 2015 season.

Orginally set to join Greg Vanney’s side when his contract with the Bianconeri expired at the end of the current Serie A campaign, the Turin giants agreed to an early release ahead of last week’s transfer deadline.

Giovinco marks a major step forward for both Toronto FC and MLS in general, able to lure a current Italian international at arguably the peak of his career to ply his trade in North America, rather than considering an alternative. Juventus were seemingly uninterested in renewing his contract, the player telling La Gazzetta dello Sport (h/t Football Italia) that Massimiliano Allegri “had other ideas.”

He could have found a home in Europe, moving to one of the peninsula’s lesser sides as many of his contemporaries have. After pocketing a lucrative four-year deal—per Gareth Wheeler of TSN—and seeing his reception after landing in Canada however, it is easy to understand why he decided to make the decision he has.

Promoted as the face of his new side and handed the No. 10 shirt he so craved to wear in Turin, Giovinco will be under pressure to deliver success to a Toronto side which has struggled to make an impact in recent seasons. It remains to be seen if the player can live up to the hype and expectation his move has generated, while his departure is unlikely to have any lasting effects on the team he leaves behind.

Having been at his home-town club since 1996, Giovinco never truly established a role at Juventus, and he was increasingly marginalised after Antonio Conte’s resignation. He made just 130 appearances for the Bianconeri, scoring a total of 20 goals in all competitions, enjoying the best spells of his career thus far away from Turin.

After breaking into the first team during their year in Serie B, Giovinco first shone at Empoli, scoring six times in 37 matches with the Tuscan side. He then spent the next two years back at Juve before leaving on loan once again, this time making a good impression over two seasons with Parma.

He registered 22 goals and 14 assists for the Ducali, earning his Italy debut in February of 2011 and has since gone on to earn 21 caps for the Azzurri. Juventus spent €11 million to end his co-ownership deal with Parma, per the club’s official website, and he would help them win two Serie A titles.

Antonio Calanni/Associated Press

Now he has severed ties in Turin, with Alessandro Matri brought back to the club to replace him. That signing was discussed in depth in this previous column, and given Giovinco’s reduced role this term, the switch is likely to make little difference to the domestic dominance Juve currently enjoy.

Indeed, according to WhoScored.com, Giovinco had played just 186 minutes this term, failing to net a league goal since finding himself on the scoreboard against Udinese in April 2014. He did score twice in Juve’s 6-1 rout of Hellas Verona in the Coppa Italia, Allegri fielding a team made up largely of his reserves as he looked to use that competition to rest his stars.

"I wanted to find a city, a team, that from the beginning would welcome me,” he said upon his unveiling in Toronto—per the MLS club’s official website—but life at Juventus will continue without him. Sitting on a comfortable cushion at the top of the Serie A table and into the last 16 of the Champions League, the club will hope to maintain their good form.

The Turin club wrote a touching farewell to the striker on their official website, thanking him “for all his efforts and wish him every success for his new adventure in Canada.” His time with them is now in the past, and the loss of Sebastian Giovinco is unlikely to halter the progress of Juventus in the immediate future.