Italy – Page 2 – GAME OF THE PEOPLE

IT’S ALWAYS a mystery why seemingly intelligent people continue to flirt with financial malpractice in this age of intense technological scrutiny. Even the most cunning criminals and canny operators are invariably found out by governing bodies, the law or accountants. This leaves you wondering how professional people can either be so stupid or careless, not to mention occasionally dishonest.

Juventus are in the spotlight again for suspicions over their financial reporting. It’s not the first time the club has been in trouble, their current era of success came after the so-called Calciopoli scandal which involved the illegal selection of favourable referees, among other breaches. Juve were stripped of their 2005 title and were relegated to Serie B.

Juve enjoyed a run of spectacular success from 2011-12 to 2020-21 which included nine scudettos and five Coppa Italia victories. They also reached two UEFA Champions finals in 2015 and 2017 in which they lost to Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively. Juventus were, supposedly, the only Italian club that could seriously challenge the Spanish giants and Bayern Munich, but they were well beaten in their two finals.

Under president Andrea Agnelli, Juve not only won trophies, they also became a more modern, forward-looking club, moving to a new stadium which they owned, giving them a competitive edge over their domestic rivals. They also grasped the marketing bug and relaunched their brand, including a controversial new corporate logo. In 2018, they thought they were sending a signal of intent to European football by signing Cristiano Ronaldo, but in truth, his arrival marked a gradual decline in their fortunes. If CR7 was supposed to be the catalyst for UEFA Champions League success, it didn’t work and he left in 2021 with Juventus’s team clearly past its best.

Agnelli and the rest of the board have resigned amid concerns over the club’s financial practices. Among the questions being asked are the valuations of players in some transfers, such as exchange deals, and the arrangements over player wages during the height of the pandemic. But after investigations by the public prosecutor’s office in Turin and Italian market regulator Consob, Juventus have had to change the way in which they accounted for player payments for the financial years ending June 2020 and June 2021. Players had agreed to waive part of their salaries because of Covid-19 and later agreed “loyalty” bonuses. Consob believes the club has yet to show the logic behind the fair value ascribed to players in transfers with other clubs. Agnelli and 15 others at the club have been investigated but the saga is likely to run for a while as it’s still early days. As they all resigned, the club continued to deny any wrongdoing, but Agnelli admitted there was a lack of unity which undermined the management of Juventus. The club has, apparently, agreed to amend its accounts for 2021-22.

The pandemic was tough for Italy’s top clubs and in the past two seasons, Juventus have made pre-tax losses of € 460 million and has generated a deficit of over € 600 million in the past five years. At the same time, their wage bill in 2021-22 absorbed 85% of income and their net debt now totals more than € 150 million, a substantial amount but over € 200 million less than the 2020-21 season. In 2021-22, the club had to raise € 400 million from its shareholders, taking the total of fresh equity raised since 2019 to over € 700 million. Investors and the market are not impressed, however, and the stock price fell on the news of the resignations. In 2022, the Juventus share price has dropped by almost 40% and the club’s market value is now around € 700 million.

What will the future hold for Agnelli, whose family’s listed vehicle, Exor, is the majority owner of Juventus? His ambitions have been battered by a series of setbacks, notably the ill-fated European Super League project, which meant he had to step away from the European Club Association and UEFA. As for Juventus, the current season has been troubled, from a poor start to the campaign to an early exit in the UEFA Champions League. And this new scandal really highlights the danger of flying too close to the sun. Icarus may have been Greek, but he has been soaring over the city of Turin for some time. The question is, how long will it take for Juventus to repair its reputation once more?

WEEK-BY-WEEK, people are getting increasingly excited about Napoli and their goalscoring antics, and little wonder, for they have opened up an eight-point lead at the top of Serie A and they also walked through their Champions League group, scoring goals for fun. For the first time in years, a club that hasn’t won Serie A since the days of Diego Maradona is being talked of as realistic scudetto winners. This could certainly be their time for Juventus are struggling by their own standards and Inter and AC Milan are not quite clicking as they should. If nothing else, Napoli look the most exciting team in Europe, but they could also be the most functional at this precise moment.

The club’s owner, Aurelio De Laurentiis, believes the current team is the best he has seen in his time in charge. He was actually criticised for selling players like Kalidou Koulibaly (€ 40 million to Chelsea), David Ospina, Dries Mertens and Lorenzo Insigne in the summer, all of whom were in their 30s and Fabián Ruiz was sold to Paris Saint-Germain for € 25 million. Simultaneously, they also acquired some very promising talent, notably Georgian forward Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who has caught the attention of every major club in Europe after his first few months at Napoli.

The pundits claim Kvaratskhelia is the most exciting player to arrive in Serie A since Cristiano Ronaldo joined Juventus in 2018, and they might be right. Napoli fans were hoping that Pablo Dybala was heading to the club from Juve, but he opted to join Roma, but Kvaradona, as he is affectionately known, has made them forget their disappointment. In the summer, sports director Cristiano Giuntoli got busy and nine players were brought in, either on permanent deals or via loan arrangements.

The response from some of the new boys has largely been impressive, with Luciano Spalletti’s side playing crisp, attacking football. The way they dismantled Liverpool in the Champions League raised many eyebrows, but they also scored prolifically against Ajax and Rangers in the group stage. They now face Eintracht Frankfurt in the round of 16, a tie they can look forward to with some degree of confidence.

Napoli have also benefitted from the form of the powerful Victor Osimhen, who has scored nine Serie A goals in 11 games, including a hat-trick against Sassuolo. The club’s biggest problem may be working out how to keep the Nigerian striker when the transfer window opens.

Napoli Serie A results 2022-23

Home		Away
2. Monza	W4-0	1.Verona	W5-2
4. Lecce	D1-1	3. Fiorentina	D0-0
6. Spezia	W1-0	5. Lazio	W2-1
8. Torino	W3-1	7. AC Milan	W2-1
10.Bologna	W3-2	9. Cremonese	W4-1
12.Sassuolo	W4-0	11.Roma	W1-0
14.Empoli	W2-0	13.Atalanta	W2-1
15.Udinese	W3-2

Napoli also have some strength in depth up front in the form of Giacomo Raspadori and Giovanni Simeone, while the fresh impetus at the club seems to have been the catalyst for the rejuvenation of players like midfielder Stanislav Lobotka. Huge South Korean defender Kim Min-jae, who was signed from Fenerbahce for € 18 million, and Juan Jesus, who joined on a permanent basis from Roma after a loan period, have also been starring in defence.

Spalletti, who is from Tuscany, is a curious character, driving around Napoli in a modest Fiat Panda rather than a conspicuous statement on wheels. After leaving Inter, he spent two years on his farm, concentrating on olive oil and wine production. In addition, his self-imposed sabbatical gave him the chance to reassess his approach to the game. He’s never been short of would-be employers and has coached eight Italian clubs, including Roma, Inter and Napoli, and also spent four and a half years with Russia’s Zenit St. Petersburg.

Napoli have gone close to winning Serie A over the past decade, but lacked the staying power to keep up with Juventus and also lost their nerve when they were leading the pack. The summer clear-out was arguably a big positive for the club as it enabled them to create something of a blank canvas to mount a title challenge in 2022-23. The opportunity is real as the big northern clubs are not at their strongest while Napoli appear to have bought very well in the close season. It will be 33 years since their last scudetto, so the big prize is long overdue, and don’t rule out a prolonged Champions League campaign.