Andrea Pirlo is the new Juventus manager, and the club could be about to undergo one of their most drastic revamps in modern times.
The shift from Maurizio Sarri to Pirlo signifies a new era at the club – Sarri was a stop-gap, a test to see how well the Italian would fare with the Champions. In fairness, he won the league, but only narrowly, and doing so playing rather bleak football.
Pirlo is young, fresh, and loved by all at the club. But his arrival has sparked a new mentality, and players are already on their way out – Blaise Matuidi has left for Inter Miami, with several others tipped for the exit.
So here are four players who Pirlo needs to sell this summer:
Aaron Ramsey
The Welshman joined on a free last summer. He signed after seeing out his contract at Arsenal and many across Europe considered it to be good business by Juve.
But the high-earning midfielder had a stop-start season – he featured 24 times in Serie A (many of those appearances coming off the bench) scoring three goals.
Pirlo outed Ramsey as one of the first on his list to ship out upon his arrival, with all of Crystal Palace, Manchester United, and West Ham in the race for the 29-year-old.
Mattia De Sciglio
The Juve and Italian international de Sciglio had a torrid season last time around. Plagued by injury, the 27-year-old featured just nine times in the league, playing little over an hour of football after the restart.
He was linked with Barcelona earlier in the summer, but more recently Juve have been linked with a swap deal with PSG, involving both de Sciglio and Leandro Parades.
De Sciglio is a useful player on his day but if Pirlo can engineer a swap deal to bring Parades the other way, it’d be great business by the Italian.
Douglas Costa
The Brazilian is another top-class player at Juventus who just can’t seem to nail down a starting spot. It’s a credit to the strength in depth of the club, but he’s another high-earner who’s just not worth the strain on the budget.
He managed just one goal in 23 Serie A appearances last season and after three seasons at Juve, Costa has never really seemed to maximize his potential.
Now he’s one of the names on Pirlo’s shipping list, and it’s said that Manchester United are readying a £27 million bid, depending on the situation of their pursuit of Jadon Sancho.
Alex Sandro
Another name who comes and goes in this Juve side, and another big-earner that Pirlo could probably do without this summer.
Manchester United are in the market for a left-back and it’s been reported in the past week that they’re in the market for Sandro.
He was a prominent member of Sarri’s side having featured 31 times in all competitions last season and has been tipped with a Premier League move for the past few years.
Now with Pirlo bolstering his list of summer sales – with Sandro said to be on that list – his English move could well materialize this summer.