On Sunday, Juventus clinched their 29th (or 31st depending on who you ask) Scudetto.
Manager Antonio Conte has now led the team to two successive Serie A championships in which the Old Lady has, for the most part, dominated their opponents. However, they still have some work to do if they are to compete with Europe’s elite in the UEFA Champions League.
The summer of 2012 was a difficult one for Juventus. General director Giuseppe Marotta, spoke about acquiring a "top player," and had his sights set on the likes of Robin van Persie (who ended up at Manchester United) and Stevan Jovetic (who stayed at Fiorentina). Instead, Juventus signed Niklas Bendtner on loan, who had little if any impact on the club.
It really was a sign of the times for Italian football — Juventus had high hopes of landing some of the world’s best talent, but were priced out of the market. However, this should be less of a problem this year, as the bianconeri will have had another year in their new stadium as well as a healthy run in the Champions League to benefit from financially.
Now backed by greater revenues, and thus a larger sum of money at their disposal for transfers, where should Juventus’ priorities lie? Fernando Llorente of Athletic Bilbao has already been signed on a free transfer, and will come with lofty expectations despite the fact that he has only scored two goals this season.
But another top-flight striker could be useful as well. Mirko Vucinic has been the best striker for Juventus over the last two seasons, but beyond that Alessandro Matri, Fabio Quagliarella and Sebastian Giovinco have been inconsistent, and you have to think that one or two from that group will be sold in favour of some new strikers coming in.
Juventus need prolific finishers; Llorente is supposed to be one of them, and another star from La Liga could be their second. Juventus has been scouting Gonzalo Higuain of Real Madrid and have expressed their interest over the last few seasons. This may be the year los blancos finally sell the Argentine, who links up well with the players around him, and always seems to be in the right positions.
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Beyond the striker position, Juventus needs greater depth. Bayern Munich has shown they are incredibly deep at every position on the field, and they certainly seem to be the class of European club football at the moment.
The midfield needs to be strengthened and someone capable of giving Andrea Pirlo a rest from the regista role once in a while should be a priority. That could be Andrea Poli of Sampdoria, who Juventus have admired for a long time. But the Turin-based club will rue the day they allowed PSG to price them out of the market for Marco Verratti, a youngster who is sure to be Pirlo’s successor with the Azzurri.
The central defence could use strengthening as there is a clear drop in quality beyond the big three of Giorgio Chiellini, Leonardo Bonucci, and Andrea Barzagli.
Which leaves the wing backs; Stephan Lichtsteiner does not have anyone capable of coming close to what he can do in this Juventus squad. It showed in the second leg against Bayern Munich when he was suspended. The left side is not much better as Kwadwo Asamoah grew fatigued down the stretch and became less and less effective as the season wore on. Stronger backup options are required.
Simply put, the squad needs strengthening in every position. Conte knows this and was quoted by the Guardian following Juventus’ Champions League exit "It makes me laugh when I hear with two or three signings we can win the Champions League,"
There is a lot of work to be done to the roster, and Conte needs to learn from his squad rotation mistakes of this season. Pirlo was not rested enough, and it showed. But if he has more to work with next season there is no telling what Juventus can achieve.
Dan Riccio is the host of the European Football Weekly podcast on Sportsnet 590 The FAN. Listen to the podcast HERE and follow Dan on Twitter.