Allegri insists Juventus still need more signings

It’s tradition now that the Juventus first team takes on the Under-23 side at Villar Perosa towards the end of the pre-season to prepare both squads for the upcoming season. In the game played earlier today, the senior side won 2-0 with goals from Manuel Locatelli and Leonardo Bonucci, and after the game coach Massimiliano Allegri spoke about the event.

“It’s an important day for the new players to realise what Juventus means, the passion, hunger, sacrifice and all that is included in the DNA of Juve.

“We had a few injured and suspended players, but we’ll make do. Now we have to prepare for the next friendly with Atletico Madrid.”

Summer signing Paul Pogba has injured his knee but instead chose to go with over a month of physical therapy to heal instead of going under the knife, a decision which has come under intense scrutiny from the fans.

“I am not a medic, so I don’t know what is best, I just trust what I am told.

“There will be these five weeks of treatment and then we hope to have him back as soon as possible.”

Juve continue to be linked with a number of players in the transfer market, not least winger Filip Kostic who despite being chased by Premier League side West Ham United is close to moving to Turin.

“We brought in Pogba and Angel Di Maria, so I’d call that a very good transfer campaign and it is a competitive squad, even if we had this unexpected Pogba development.

“We still need more in terms of numbers and by August 31 the squad will be complete.”

Two straight seasons of finishing in fourth after a sustained spell of Scudetto success means the pressure is already ramping up on the coach.

“Inter Milan, AC Milan and AS Roma have much stronger squads than last season, so winning the Scudetto will be very difficult. We started out aiming to win last season too, but other teams are competitive and this year even more so.”