While the role of a sporting director might be unheard of in some countries, this post is highly emphasized in Italian football.

While coaches often come and go in Calcio, the sporting director is considered to be the main architect behind the squad.

Therefore, we’ll rank the last five directors who took charge at Juventus based on the success they found in Turin. After all, these men were often credited with the club’s exploits, and blamed for its shortcomings.

Note: While these five directors held different titles and worked alongside their collaborators, they are the ones who were widely considered to be in charge of the sporting department for a span of time.

5- Alessio Secco (2006-2010)

Poor Alessio. The young director at the time had some huge boots to fill and a major responsibility to hold following his sudden promotion amidst the Calciopoli scandal.

Thankfully for the Bianconeri, the legends who stuck by the Old Lady allowed the club to earn its way back to Serie A and remain afloat, but Secco’s buys did very little to improve the team – even the ones that appeared to be good deals at the time (from Tiago to Amauri all the way to Felipe Melo and Diego).

It really is hard to identify a successful signature deal during that era.

4- Fabio Paratici (2018-2021)

Fabio Paratici first landed in Turin as Giuseppe Marotta’s right hand man in 2010, before eventually usurping his mentor in 2018. Cristiano Ronaldo’s arrival is often recognized as the beginning of his ascension.

This marked an era where Juventus decided to bear their teeth on the transfer market and splash the cash on the big names.

The current Spurs director had his successful signings – the likes of Matthijs de Ligt and Federico Chiesa – but offering hefty wages for free agents like Adrien Rabiot and Aaron Ramsey cost the coffers big time, while his exchange-happy approach put the club in trouble with the authorities due to alleged false accounting charges.

3- Federico Cherubini (2021-present)

While it’s still early days to judge the work of the Old Lady’s current sporting director, it’s obvious that Federico Cherubini is adopting a far more cautious approach than his predecessor (Paratici) which complies with the club’s current state of affairs, plus the surveillance of CEO Maurizio Arrivabene.

Following a forgettable summer transfer market, Paratici’s work would have been listless. However, he displayed his prowess with a solid January session, proving that he’s willing to walk in order to address the club’s most urgent needs.

2- Giuseppe Marotta (2010-2018)

The man who tipped the balance at the summit of Italian football.

Following some unforgettable pre-Calciopoli campaigns, Giuseppe Marotta was the architect of the Bianconeri’s rise, and helped the club establish the longest winning dynasty in Serie A history.

Although he had his missteps at times, the former CEO was renowned for his ability to snatch the best free agents on the market (the likes of Pirlo, Pogba and Khedira) as he built a solid foundation on a relatively low cost, before tipping the scale once again in favor of Inter after joining Juve’s arch-rivals following his unceremonious exit in 2018.

He could have landed at number one, but European glory eluded him despite getting close on two occasions

1-Luciano Moggi (1994-2006)

Some love him, others despise him, however, this is where we have to put all controversy and court room chat aside and focus on his work as a sporting director.

In 1996, Luciano Moggi signed a young Zinedine Zidane who would arguably develop into the best player of his generation during his stint in Turin.

When the Frenchman decided to end his Italian adventure, Lucky Luciano forced Real Madrid into breaking the transfer record at the time, before immediately reinvesting the money on Lilian Thuram, Pavel Nedved and Gianluigi Buffon, thus ensuring that Juventus remained at the top of the hierarchy.

Another masterpiece of his includes exchanging the services of backup goalkeeper Fabian Carini in favor of Inter’s Fabio Cannavaro.