A significant shake-up to the squad is predicted this summer, but the search for the new Juventus sporting director must be wrapped up before their summer transfer business accelerates. Below we profile four candidates, thought to be the frontrunners for the role.
New-Look Juventus Board Taking Shape
A summer of change is already well underway in Turin, starting with a hierarchical shake-up.
This week, Damien Comolli took up the role of general manager, where he’ll be reporting directly to Chief Executive Officer Maurizio Scanavino.
A former football scout with a notoriously keen eye for talent, Comolli has held various director roles at Liverpool, Tottenham and Saint-Etienne, but most recently worked miracles as president of Toulouse.
His appointment brings with it much promise, having transformed a downbeat Toulouse into a club underpinned by statistical analysis and data-informed transfers. As a result, he lifted them from Ligue 2 into the top-half of Ligue 1, as well as a first ever Coupe de France.
Before launching into the transfer market, amongst the first order of business for Comolli will be helping to appoint the next Juventus sporting director.
The incumbent, Cristiano Giuntoli, is widely expected to leave amid the club’s mass corporate restructuring, effectively ending a string of major investments that have failed to land — both in the dugout, and on the pitch.
The Old Lady are well positioned to kick on in a new sporting direction next season, having successfully secured Champions League qualification. However, a host of short-term deals, including important loan deals for Kolo Muani, Renato Veiga and Francisco Conceição, are coming to an end.
Balancing their precarious financial situation with a need to bolster a thin squad requires the expertise of a new sporting director, so it is worth unpicking the candidates thought to be in club’s crosshairs.
Next Juventus Sporting Director Shortlist
Frederic Massara
Frederic Massara, or ‘Ricky’ as he affectionately know, is currently on the market after leaving his most recent role at director of football at Stade Rennais.
Massara has a notable resumé in Serie A having previously held similar roles at both Roma and AC Milan.
Particularly at the latter, Massara left his mark after being named Sporting Director of the Year alongside Paolo Maldini at the 2022 Globe Soccer Awards.
During his tenure at the San Siro, Massara worked collaboratively with Maldini to bring in the likes of Rafael Leao, Theo Hernandez, Olivier Giroud, Fikayo Tomori and Mike Maignan.
His relatively short stint at Rennes — 11 months to be exact — has been slightly underwhelming as the two parties go their separate ways, but a market opportunity as good as this will no doubt prick the ears of Juve’s new board.
Diego Lopez
A slightly more youthful approach could see Juventus jump in for Diego Lopez.
The 35-year-old recently vacated his role as sporting director as Lens, having successfully balanced the books after sanctioning a slew of player sales at the start of his tenure.
Having been credited for deepening ties with the youth system and expanding the club’s global scouting network, Lopez’s reputation as one of the youngest, and most promising directors in world football has not gone unnoticed.
His ability to work within the confines of a tight budget may well suit Juve, who are still feeling their way through financial uncertainty, having been hit with a 10-point deduction two years ago for false accounting.
Matteo Tognozzi
Reports this week linking Matteo Tognozzi with a return to Turin have ramped up, having departed in 2023.
Having left to take on a new prominent role at Granada, he’s earned his stripes as a sporting director over the last two years.
However, Tognozzi has deep ties to Juventus having first started out as a youth team scout back in 2017, before being promoted to the club’s chief scouting position.
During his time helping to shape Juve’s world-renowned youth development pathway, he oversaw the early careers of Dean Huijsen, Matias Soulé, and Kenan Yildiz,, as well as the arrivals of Samuel Iling-Junior and Enzo Barrenechea.
According to the safest online betting sites, Tognozzi is widely expected to return to the club in some capacity, and is the tentative favourite for the soon-to-be-vacant role.
Hasan Salihamidzic
Former Juventus player Hasan Salihamidzic has also quietly made his way onto the shortlist, likely because of his ties to the club.
Salihamidzic has been out of a job since leaving Bayern Munich in 2023, where he served as sporting director for the better part of three years.
The Bosnian boasts an impressive ability to bring in elite talent, having successfully captured the likes of Noussair Mazraoui, Mathys Tel, Matthijs de Ligt, Yann Sommer, Ryan Gravenberch, and Sadio Mane in a relatively short stint in Munich.
His sacking at Bayern brought with it plenty of controversy, having been dismissed along with CEO Oliver Kahn, less than an hour after the Bavarians lifted the Bundesliga.
