Juventus star and powerful player who was declared not for sale has finally been sold for unresisting currency worth billions of…
Giovanni Garofani, a formidable player for Juventus who was first listed as not for sale, was eventually snapped up for an incredible sum of money—billions of dollars.
Particularly during Beppe Marotta’s leadership, Juventus has developed a reputation for being astute transfer market operators.
Although there have undoubtedly been some misses as well, Juventus has undoubtedly been a part of several extremely lucrative transactions.
But during the previous twenty or so years, who else has exploited the Serie A heavyweights to pad their coffers?
The season in which Juventus made the most costly outbound moves
Real Madrid | Alvaro Morata | €30 / £27 m | 2016
Following his graduation from Real Madrid’s academy in 2013, Morata was called up to the first squad and played for a single season.
Juventus made an offer for the Spaniard in the summer of 2014, offering €20 million (£18 million), with Real Madrid tagging on a buy-back clause.
After a stellar two seasons at Juventus, Morata’s return to the Santiago Bernabeu cost Madrid €30 million (£27 million).
Later on, Madrid sold Morata to Chelsea for €66 million (£59.40 million) a season later.
The striker moved on loan to Atletico Madrid in 2019 after failing to settle in at Stamford Bridge, and he signed a permanent deal with them in 2020.
Filippo Inzaghi | Milan | 2001 | €36.15m / £32.54m
During the 1996–97 season, Inzaghi, one of the finest poachers of his generation, had his breakthrough season with Atalanta.
Milan decided to spend a premium of €36.15 million (£32.54 million) for the striker after he spent four years at Juventus, where he scored 89 goals in 165 appearances and won the Scudetto in his rookie season.
With 126 goals in 300 games, two Champions Leagues, one FIFA Club World Cup, two Serie A championships, two UEFA Super Cup medals, one Italian Super Cup, and one Italian Cup, Inzaghi became a legendary player at Milan.
Juventus’s Mattia Caldara in 2018–19Getty Photographs
8Mattia Caldara | Milan | 2018 | €36.87m / £33.18m
Caldara was purchased by Juventus in January 2017 for €19 million (£17.10 million) from Atalanta after making an impression during loan stints at Trapani and Cesena between 2014 and 2016. He was then sent back on loan to the Bergamo team until the summer of 2018.
At €36.87 million (£33.18 million) in August 2018, he was subsequently sold to Milan without ever playing a game for Juventus.
During his tenure at Milan, Caldara made very few appearances and was returned to Atalanta on loan in January 2020.
7. Arturo Vidal | Bayern Munich | 2015 | €39.25m / £35.33m
Vidal moved to Juventus in the summer of 2011 for €12.50 million (£11.25 million) after making an impression at Bayer Leverkusen for four years.
With Juventus, the Chilean midfielder took home four Scudetto trophies, one Italian Cup, and two Italian Super Cups. In 2012–13, Vidal received another vote for Player of the Year.
Bayern Munich expressed interest in signing him in 2015 and decided to pay €39.25 million (£35.33 million) for the aggressive midfield player.
Vidal was a member of Bayern for three years before going to Barcelona and then Inter. He signed a free transfer to Flamengo in the summer of 2022.
6 Leonardo Bonucci | Milan | 2017 | €42m / £37.80m
In 2010, after failing to get consistent first-team playing time at Inter, Bonucci signed a €15.50 million (£13.95 million) contract to join Juventus from Bari.
Together with Giorgio Chiellini, Bonucci established a formidable defensive tandem at Juventus until 2017, when Milan acquired him for €42 million (£37.80 million) for a five-year contract.
The defender, nevertheless, only spent one season with Milan before returning to Juventus in 2018 for a fee of €35 million (£31.50 million).
5 Miralem Pjanic | Barcelona | 2020 | €60m / £54m
Pjanic and Arthur moved teams in 2020 as part of an “accounting” deal hatched by Barcelona and Juventus, at what appeared to be an exorbitant cost to balance the books for both sides.
The Bosnian joined Besiktas on loan less than a year after moving to Camp Nou, and he concluded his turbulent tenure at the Catalan club permanently in the summer of 2022 after a free transfer to Sharjah FC, which is headquartered in the United Arab Emirates.
4Joao Cancelo | Manchester City | 2019 | €65 million / £58.5 million
After graduating from the Benfica academy, Joao Cancelo spent a season on loan at Valencia in 2014. However, the Portuguese team opted to cash in on the player and sold him for €15 million (£13.50 million) to the Spanish team the following year.
Cancelo gained prominence at Valencia for two seasons before Inter chose to bring him in on a season-long loan in 2017.
Juventus pounced in the summer of 2018 and spent €40.40m (£36.36m) for the full-back from Portugal.
In a deal costing €65 million (£58.50 million), Manchester City enticed him to the Premier League after just one season in Turin, when he won the Serie A title and the Italian Super Cup. Danilo went the other way as part of the trade.
Since then, Cancelo has been an integral part of Manchester City’s success as they continue to rule the English football landscape under Pep Guardiola.
3Matthijs de Ligt | Bayern Munich | 2022 | €67 million / £60.30 million
Following his brilliant displays for Ajax, which propelled them to the UEFA Champions League semifinals in 2018–19, De Ligt was acquired by Juventus in the summer of 2019 for an astonishing €85.50 million (£76.95 million).
While De Ligt won the Serie A, Italian Cup, and Italian Super Cup during his three seasons at Juventus, he never quite reached the heights the team had been looking for.
Bayern Munich made De Ligt the second-most expensive signing in their history during the summer transfer window of 2022, agreeing to pay Juventus €67 million (£60.30 million) for the Dutchman.
2Zinedine Zidane | Real Madrid | 2001 | €77.50m / £69.75m
Zidane was acquired by Juventus from Bordeaux in July 1996 for a pittance of €3.50 million (£3.15).
Zidane became one of the best midfielders of all time during his five-year tenure at Turin, when he won two Serie A championships, a UEFA Super Cup, an Italian Super Cup, and an Intercontinental Cup.
Zidane helped France win the Euro Championship in 2000 and the World Cup in 1998, when he was still a member of Juventus’ club team.
During his tenure with Juventus, he won two of his three FIFA Best Men’s Player honors (1998 and 2000) and one Ballon d’Or (1998).
Real Madrid approached Juventus in 2001 with the intention of making 29-year-old Zidane their premier Galactico. They agreed to pay a record €77.50 million (£69.75 million) to get the French legend’s signature.
1. Paul Pogba, Manchester United | €105 million / £94.50 million | 2016
The Red Devils smashed the global transfer record in 2016 when they agreed to pay Juventus €105 million (£94.50 million) to bring Paul Pogba back to Old Trafford after letting him go for free in 2012. It was a move that most Manchester United supporters would prefer to forget.
At Juventus, Pogba developed into one of the best midfield players in the world, but he fell short of the high expectations at United.
Following what many will view as a lackluster stint, he once again left United in the summer of 2022 to sign a free transfer to Juventus.
