The table have turned for some Juventus players in Turin as new head coach, Thiago Motta, sets out for a new challenge with the Serie A giants.
Juventus finished third on the table during the 2023-24 Serie A season. For a club known for its dominant history in the Italian top flight, the slip to a third-place finish was nothing less of a downgrade.
Hence, former manager Maximiliano Allegri was shown the exit door despite leading the side to Coppa Italia triumph with Motta taking charge. As expected, the change in hands in the Old Lady’s dugout has been followed by a change in the fortunes of some of the players in the team.
Here, Futballnews takes you through the profiles of eight Juventus players who have been frozen out of the squad by Thiago Motta.
Federico Chiesa
Federico Chiesa is an Italian professional footballer, who plays as a winger for Juventus. The Fiorentina Academy graduate joined Juventus from Fiorentina in 2020 initially on loan before signing a permanent contract in 2021.
He has made 131 appearances for the club in all competitions, scoring 32 goals. Chiesa made his Italy senior national team debut in 2018 and has won 51 caps with the team, scoring 7 goals. He has a year left on his Juventus deal but is set to leave after being frozen out of the club’s project.
Wojciech Tomasz Szczęsny
Wojciech Tomasz Szczęsny, 34, is a Polish goalkeeper. Szczesny is best known for his time in the Premier League with Arsenal. He made 132 appearances for Arsenal, won two FA Cups, one Community Shield, and the 2013-14 Premier League Golden Glove.
During his time at Arsenal, Szczesny had loan spells with Brentford and Roma before joining Juventus in 2017. He initially penned down a four-year contract with Juventus after joining for €15.3m and has made 252 appearances for the club in all competitions. He has a year left on his contract but he is expected to leave the club this summer.
Weston McKennie
Weston McKennie is an American soccer star playing as a midfielder for Juventus. The 25-year-old is among the listed names to leave Juventus this summer. Mckennie graduated from Schalke 04 Academy and made 72 league appearances for the club before joining Juventus on loan in 2020.
After an impressive loan spell in which he scored 4 goals in 21 league appearances, he signed a permanent contract with the club the next year. Mckennie has gone on to tally 103 appearances for Juventus in all competitions, scoring eight goals. The 26-capped USA international has a year left on his Juventus deal.
Mattia De Sciglio
Mattia De Sciglio, 31, is an Italian professional footballer, playing as a defender for Juventus. The right-back graduated from AC Milan Academy in 2011 and made 110 league appearances for the club before moving to Juventus in 2017. He has made 83 Serie A appearances and 117 in all competitions for the club, scoring two goals.
Sciglio plays for Italy’s national team. He has won 40 caps with the team since making his debut in 2013. He signed a three-year extension with the club in 2022 and has a year left on his deal.
Arthur Melo
Brazilian footballer Arthur Melo is one of the players who have fallen out of favor in Turin under Motta. The 27-year-old midfielder is contracted to the Serie A outfit till 2026 but could leave this summer.
Melo’s childhood club is Gremio in Brazil. He graduated from the club’s academy in 2015 and made 35 league appearances for the club before joining Barcelona in Spain in 2018.
At Barcelona, he made 48 La Liga appearances, scoring two goals before moving to Juventus in 2020. In his four seasons with the Turin-based side, he has made only 42 Serie A appearances and has spent his last two seasons on loan at Liverpool and Fiorentina.
Filip Kostic
Serbian footballer Filip Kostic is also set to leave Juventus this summer. Kostic, who plays as a defender and midfielder for the Serie A outfit joined the club from Eintracht Frankfurt in 2022. He has made 83 appearances in all competitions, scoring three goals.
The 64-capped Serbia international has a running two-year contract. with the club after he penned down a four-year deal in 2022. He could leave this summer due to the change of hands in the club’s dugout.
Nicolussi Caviglia
Hans Nicolussi Caviglia is another Italian footballer who has been frozen out of the Juventus project. The 24-year-old is one of the two homegrown Juventus players on the list.
Caviglia groomed his career by playing for Juventus Next Gen – the club’s development squad. He graduated to the senior squad in 2018 but has struggled for regular game time. The Aosta-born star made only 11 Serie A appearances for the club and has spent his last four years on loan to different clubs. He has two years left on his contract but he is not in the plans of coach Thiago Motta.
Daniele Rugani
Daniele Rugani is another homegrown Juventus player on the list. The 30-year-old defender graduated from Juventus Academy in 2013. He has been at the club for over a decade but has managed only 117 Serie A appearances in their shirt. He was loaned to Empoli from 2013 to 2015, Rennes in 2020, and Cagliari in 2021.
He won seven caps with Italy’s senior national team before calling time in his international career in 2018. Rugani recently extended his Juventus contract last season till 2026 before Thiago Motta arrived as the new manager.
