After building what was arguably the most dominant winning dynasty in the history of Italian football, Juventus were no longer satisfied with domestic success.

Instead, club president Andrea Agnelli was adamant on expanding their triumphs to the European scene while turning the Bianconeri into one of the biggest brands in sports.

Therefore, the management decided to pull off some publicity stunts, but the majority of them received poor reception from the supporters while others left a negative impact on the pitch or on the balance sheet, which eventually played a part in the club’s regression in the past few years.

So let’s take a look at five Juventus publicity stunts that backfired during the past decade.

5- Pogba as Number 10

Following the departure of Carlos Tevez in 2015, the hierarchy were eager to maintain the number 10 jersey in stock, which promoted an awkward idea.

The club decided to put the famous number (which was worn by some of the most iconic second strikers in history) on the back of a box-to-box midfielder.

The Frenchman was at the time the club’s biggest star, but having to drop his natural number 6 only to adopt the number 10 seemed like a forced decision, which led the player to resort to some weird antics, including writing “+5” with his own hand next to the printed number on his back.

4- All or Nothing

For the 2020/21 campaign, Juventus decided to record their whole campaign, launching their own edition of the “All or Nothing” series. Even though it wasn’t the first documentary series about the club, this one opted to give the fan the whole experience.

While the aim was to showcase the club as the dominant force in Italian football, the series portrayed a team in crisis and a dysfunctional locker room, as the Old Lady failed to lift the Scudetto title for the first time in a decade.

3- Dropping the Stripes

When it comes to the big three of Italian football (Juventus, Milan and Inter), striped jerseys as almost sacred.

Now surely some designs sparked debate regarding too big, too small or too funky stripes, but dropping it altogether was simply a blasphemous act.

Therefore, the half-half home jersey adopted in 2019/20 remains one of the club’s most maligned shirts.

2- The “J” Logo

We Juventus fans have our differences regarding all sorts of aspects related to the club. We’d argue all day long when a topic related to a player, manager or director is brought out.

But one thing we all agree upon, is the fact that the old logo was much more beautiful, meaningful and prestigious than the current one.

Nevertheless, Agnelli wanted the letter “J” to be associated with the club all around the globe, even if it came at the expense of Old Lady’s soul.

1 – Signing Ronaldo

Now this one might be a controversial call. Juventus fans will argue over how well Cristiano Ronaldo served the club on the pitch.

But that’s not the point in here. Regardless of his exploits/failures on the pitch, the Portuguese’s signing was in itself a massive publicity stunt. How else can we explain spending 100 million euros on the transfer of a 33-year-old player, and offering him net wages of 31 millions per season?!

Upon his arrival, CR7 was labelled as the missing piece that will finally guide the Bianconeri in their never-ending quest to lift the Champions League trophy.

But unfortunately for everyone involved, this move marked the end of Giuseppe Marotta’s time in Turin and the beginning of the club’s decline.