We’re already in the first week of August, and oddly enough, Juventus are yet to secure a single new signing for the first team.
Although Kaio Jorge’s deal is fast approaching its happy ending, the Bianconeri’s main issue resides in midfield, where the management is still struggling to finalize Manuel Locatelli’s transfer from Sassuolo.
Moreover, Massimiliano Allegri’s hopes of a reunion with Miralem Pjanic are diminishing with every passing day, especially with the club failing to offload Aaron Ramsey.
Therefore, the returning manager decided to improvise with the resources at his disposal, deploying the Welshman in the Regista role during the friendly match against Monza last Saturday.
The former Arsenal man is known for playing in a more advanced position on the pitch, but what are the reasons behind the coach’s unexpected experiment?
The lack of alternatives
Juve’s midfield may be filled with young and athletic players who fit the box-to-box positions, but a candid deep-lying playmaker is still lacking.
Whilst Allegri would be most comfortable with the tried and tested Pjanic, if the latter doesn’t land in Turin before the end of the month, the manager will have to do with an internal solution.
Career-saving move?
Although he spent his entire playing career playing either as an attacking midfielder or a Mezzala, we’re not exactly revealing a secret when we say that Ramsey is no longer as dangerous as he once was in the final third.
Therefore, testing the Wales international in the less-physically demanding Regista role could be the player’s last resort in the hopes of reigniting his regressing playing career.
The 30-year-old’s main task would be distributing the ball with some simple passing, rather than having to make runs forward.
Past Experience
As we mentioned before, Allegri relied on Pjanic in the deep-lying playmaker role during his last three years in charge of Juventus.
However, the Bosnian had never been deployed in such role before, as he used to play in much more advanced positions during his previous stints at Lyon and Roma.
Thus, transforming a central attacking midfielder into a Regista wouldn’t exactly be a precedent for the Livorno native.
Conclusion
Whilst this whole experiment is unlikely to excite nor please the regular Juventus fan, necessity remains the mother of invention, and maybe… just maybe, it wouldn’t turn out to be as disastrous as one would expect, especially if Mad Max sincerely believes in its ability to succeed.
Why is it so difficult for Juve to sign Locatelli? Is it because he prefers Juve ahead of other teams? No matter how good Ramsey is in that position he cant deliver on a consistent basis like Locatelli. And with just one injury he’s out for months. Besides missing out on Locatelli means loading him to another team and then we start regretting just like Halland. #GetLocatelliNow
Juve always trying to get things cheap when it comes to Italian talent. We always do this, even before the pandemic hit. I hope Locatelli stays or go somewhere else, we need him in Qatar.