The headline in Tuttosport says it plainly: “Giovanni doesn’t deceive — finally the right man in the right place.” It is a verdict that reflects the broad consensus forming across Italian football in the wake of Giovanni Carnevali’s appointment as Juventus’s new chief executive and general director.
Eight Directors in Five Years — A Record of Instability
The scale of the problem Carnevali inherits can be measured in names. In the space of five years, Juventus have cycled through no fewer than eight senior directors: chief executives Maurizio Arrivabene, Maurizio Scanavino, and Damien Comolli; sporting directors Fabio Paratici, Federico Cherubini, and Giovanni Manna; and directors general Francesco Calvo and Cristiano Giuntoli. Add to that a change of president in 2023 — from Andrea Agnelli to Gianluca Ferrero — and the picture is one of almost perpetual managerial turbulence at a club that once prided itself on institutional solidity.
The revolving door has come at an enormous financial and sporting cost. Transfer windows have been inconsistent, player recruitment has been patchy, and the relationship between the boardroom and the dugout has repeatedly broken down — most recently and visibly between Spalletti and Comolli.
The Sassuolo Blueprint: Twelve Years of Sustained Excellence
What makes Carnevali’s appointment feel so different is the record he carries with him. During his twelve years as chief executive and general director at Sassuolo, he became the cornerstone of a club that punched consistently above its weight — the shining light of the Mapei galaxy, as Tuttosport’s Xavier Jacobelli describes it. Under his stewardship, Sassuolo developed and sold some of Italian football’s most coveted talents — Manuel Locatelli, Giacomo Raspadori, Davide Frattesi, Gianluca Scamacca — whilst maintaining Serie A status and a model of financial sustainability that few clubs in Italy have matched.
The contrast with the men who preceded him at Juventus could scarcely be more stark. Where Comolli brought a data-driven, internationally focused philosophy that ultimately failed to translate into results, Carnevali brings decades of deep-rooted relationships within Italian football, an instinctive understanding of the domestic market, and a proven ability to negotiate smartly without overspending.
What Juventus Are Buying Into
For Spalletti, the arrival of Carnevali represents not just a change of personnel but a change of working culture — one in which the manager’s football knowledge and experience are placed at the centre of decision-making rather than treated as one variable among many in an algorithm. For supporters, it offers the prospect of a calmer, more coherent approach to building a squad capable of competing for the Scudetto and making a serious impact in the Europa League.
After five chaotic years of boardroom instability, Juventus may finally have found the steady hand they need. Whether the right man can now deliver the right results will be the story of the season ahead.
