Juventus Locker Room Said to Be Rather Splintered | OneFootball

The lack of leadership is one of the many issues that have hampered Juventus this season. While there isn’t a contentious divide in their locker room, it hasn’t really come together after a flurry of additions and departures, La Gazzetta dello Sport informs.

The Bianconeri used to lean on a backbone of Italian players, but they no longer have many Azzurri linchpins. Plus, they are all young-ish. Michele Di Gregorio is a fourth choice at best for Luciano Spalletti. Manuel Locatelli and Federico Gatti aren’t locks to make the squad in every international break. Andrea Cambiaso is the only staple for both squads. Mattia Perin is one of their few charismatic leaders, but he’s a deputy.

From this standpoint, Juventus relied heavily on a few foreigners in recent years: Wojciech Szczesny, Adrien Rabiot, and Danilo, but they have all been ousted. Their longest-tenured players are still growing into such a role, for instance, Weston McKennie, whose future seemingly hangs in the balance each summer. The same goes for Dusan Vlahovic, who might not be in Turin for much longer.

The dressing room is mostly composed of a few groups based on age and nationality, which is standard for most sides. The French colony, which comprises Timothy Weah, has grown a lot numerically, and also the Portuguese one.

Our Take on the Juventus Locker Room

Their management had their reasons for shipping off some veterans, mostly because of their large salaries, but probably underestimated the potential void. Gleison Bremer getting seriously hurt contributed. Perhaps the executives thought Nicolas Gonzalez and Teun Koopmeiners would help given their significance in their previous teams, but they haven’t had a smooth transition.