Juventus president Andrea Agnelli spoke to the press today in Fabio Paratici’s final sendoff. He defended the Super League project and weighed in on the return of Massimiliano Allegri before bidding farewell to the long-time director.
“I tried to bring change for many years as a member of ECA and UEFA. The first signals that the crisis was coming were already clear before the pandemic. The Super League was never a coup, but rather a desperate cry of alarm of a system that is marching toward insolvency. The founding clubs wanted it to be officially recognized.”
“UEFA responded with complete closure, offenses and threats against the teams. That is not how you reform football, which is currently a monopoly. I know that not everybody is on the same page inside the Federation. We wish to have a dialogue with them and FIFA. Juventus, Real Madrid and Barcelona are determined to complete the overhaul of the European competitions.”
Agnelli thanked Andrea Pirlo: “If we call a season where we won two trophies and qualified for Champions a failure, we are willing to botch some campaigns here and there.”
On Allegri: “He is very determined and eager to get back to work. We aim at a long-term project based on planning and constant growth. We will let you know when we will complete the management.”
The president underlined the biggest purchases and one regret of the Paratici era: “He brought Carlos Tevez, Paulo Dybala, and Cristiano Ronaldo here, just to name three of his acquisitions. He hired several top coaches. We wish we were able to close the deal for Robin Van Persie back in the day. He had dinner at my home, but I was not present. It is a pity because it was a high-level operation.”