Juventus To Stay Competitive In Serie A Despite Transfer Needs, Says Motta

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Thiago Motta is optimistic about Juventus' competitiveness as the Serie A season begins, despite ongoing transfer market activities. The Allianz Stadium has seen significant changes, with Motta taking over from Massimiliano Allegri after four years without a league title, following nine consecutive Scudetto wins.

The Bianconeri have added midfielders Douglas Luiz and Khephren Thuram but have yet to bolster their attack. They have been linked with Teun Koopmeiners and Nicolas Gonzalez. Due to these transfer struggles, Weston McKennie, who seemed set to leave at the end of the 2023-24 season, might be back for their Serie A opener against Cesc Fabregas' Como on Monday.

Motta remains confident in his current squad. At Sunday’s pre-match press conference, he stated: "First of all, McKennie is a useful and functional player for our needs. Tomorrow we have 19 players to face the game, only 11 can play. I have the possibility to make five substitutions, no more."

Motta emphasised the team's readiness: "We are in good shape, had good preparation, good training this week, with intensity, everything we want to see, and ready to face tomorrow's game." Juventus also tweeted their anticipation for the match:

Upcoming Match Against Como

Juventus is likely to offload Italy forward Federico Chiesa among others. Despite knowing there is much work ahead, Motta is focused on starting his tenure with a victory. "We are working hard to build a competitive squad together and today we are focused on playing a great game against Como. We will see the rest later," Motta said.

Motta stressed the importance of focusing on their performance: "The most important thing is that, even if you don't like to talk too much about the game, we are focused on playing well, doing our job well and getting the result we want against Como."

Team Enthusiasm

He acknowledged the merit of all players involved: "All the players who come tomorrow deserve to be there, whether they play from the start or come in during the game; they do so on merit." He added that nothing should be taken for granted: "We have to deserve it and we have to focus on ourselves and on tomorrow's game."

Motta also recognised Como's journey: "We are facing a team that has made it here from Serie B; they have won many games to get to this point; they have a lot of enthusiasm."

The upcoming match marks an important step for Juventus under Motta's leadership as they aim for a strong start in Serie A.