Juventus officially unveiled former Napoli sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli as their new CEO at a press conference on Tuesday.
Giuntoli did an excellent job at the Diego Maradona Stadium, providing former Partenopei manager Luciano Spalletti with a Scudetto-winning cast of players last season.
After finishing empty-handed over the last two years, Juventus hope the 51-year-old transfer expert can shape a new trophy-laden era at the Allianz Stadium.
It’s up to Giuntoli to overhaul Massimiliano Allegri’s downtrodden squad and get the Bianconeri back on the rails, and he is ready to get down to work immediately.
Asked to provide an update on the club’s stance on the exit-linked duo Federico Chiesa and Dusan Vlahovic, he refused to rule out the possibility of cashing in on Juve’s unsettled stars.
Despite insisting the Serie A heavyweights continue to rely on their prized assets, Giuntoli confirmed the club would entertain ‘irrefutable offers’ as they must balance the books.
“We have taken information from many clubs, but we are relying on Chiesa, Vlahovic, [Moise] Kean and [Arkadiusz] Milik,” he said, as quoted by Gazzetta dello Sport.
“It’s not a secret that we must balance the books. Of course, if there are irrefutable offers, we must think about them. Technically, we strongly rely on him [Vlahovic].
“Right now, we rely on them [Chiesa and Vlahovic]. But if we receive irrefutable offers, we will sit down and talk because we need to balance the books.”
Giuntoli also took stock of Paul Pogba’s future at Juventus amid speculation the club could cut him loose following an injury-puzzled comeback year.
The Frenchman reportedly has a mega-money bid from Saudi Arabia on the table, but the new Bianconeri CEO won’t consider approaches for the ex-Manchester United midfielder.
“His situation is clear, the guy is returning from a difficult season and we are waiting for him,” he added.
“He is fundamental for us, he has experience and quality and we rely on him to mentor the many lads we have.”
Last but not least, Giuntoli remained tight-lipped about Juventus’ alleged pursuit of Chelsea outcast Romelu Lukaku now that his return to Inter Milan is off.
“I haven’t thought about it,” Giuntoli said. “As I said we are collecting information, but we are not thinking about the consequences of something that is not happening.”