Serie A: Juventus ends the Agnelli era with abysmal losses of 239 million euros this year

Juventus Turin, sportingly struggling and in the crosshairs of justice, pays off the Andrea Agnelli era, its resigning president, by approving financial results in bright red on Tuesday, a few weeks before appointing its new management team.

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The “Old lady” will validate accounts in deficit for the fifth consecutive year, and for the second in a row beyond the 200 million euros of losses: 239.3 M EUR for the 2021/2022 financial year after 226, 8 M EUR the previous season.

Considerable losses

This general meeting of shareholders with a gloomy atmosphere, already postponed twice, is being held while Juve is officially without management: Andrea Agnelli resigned on November 28, with the entire board of directors, under pressure from an investigation for alleged accounting irregularities.

Three days later, on December 1, the man who had led the club since 2010 was the subject of a request for a trial, along with eleven other ex-leaders, for these alleged breaches of the club's finances, listed on the stock exchange. .

Juve is suspected of having manipulated the market by disseminating biased financial information but also of having produced invoices for non-existent transactions, over the period 2018-2021.

A century of Agnelli

The year 2023, which will mark the 100th anniversary of the takeover by the Agnelli family, will therefore be far from being as festive as hoped for a club plunged back into torment bringing it back into troubled waters, as during the scandal of the " calciopoli” (influence on the choice of referees), which had earned the Bianconeri relegation to Serie B (second division) in 2006.

In addition to the judicial inquiry into its accounts, the club is also in the sights of the Italian stock market policeman, the Italian Federation and UEFA.

Juve, already in open conflict with the European body on the Super League for more than eighteen months, is engaged in a recovery plan aimed at complying with UEFA financial rules.

However, its financial results are still just as bad: the most successful club in Italian football (36 league titles or scudetti) will approve losses of almost 240 M EUR, a figure revised slightly downwards compared to the deficit of 254 M EUR announced in September.

This revision takes account of the observations of the financial authorities and resulted in an increase, in return, of the losses of the previous financial year (226 M EUR compared to 209 M EUR).

Juventus recorded a drop in turnover of almost 8% (to 443 M EUR) last season, due in particular to lower TV revenues, and despite a (still partial) reopening of the stadiums after the pandemic.

Pogba expected

Last season was the first without a title since 2011, confirming the decline of the "Old Lady" after a golden decade under the direction of Andrea Agnelli, marked in particular by nine consecutive scudetti, unheard of in Italy (2012 to 2020 ).

It will therefore be time for reconstruction for the future boss, who will be appointed on January 18.

Exor, the holding company of the Agnelli family, chose a 59-year-old chartered accountant, Gianluca Ferrero, to lead it.

A recovery that will concern finances in the foreground but will also go through the results on the ground, after a very mixed start to the season.

Massimiliano Allegri, confirmed as coach despite being eliminated from the group stage of the Champions League, hopes to finally be able to count on the star rookie of last summer, Paul Pogba, who has not yet played a single match official due to a right knee injury.

Operated in early September and package for the World Cup-2022, the Frenchman is expected from mid-January.

Andrea Agnelli, seen again at the edge of the training grounds in Turin pending the formal appointment of his successor, assured the Italian press that his departure "does not change the objectives of the team".

Juventus are currently third in Serie A, ten points behind leaders Napoli.

The two teams will meet again on January 13, the opportunity to see if the Bianconeri can disrupt the current supremacy of the Neapolitans.