Federico Cherubini, the sporting director of Juventus, has slammed his former colleague Fabio Paratici, claiming the latter ‘drugged’ the market with artificial inflation tactics, allowing the club to overpay for stars such as Federico Chiesa and Dejan Kulusevski..
UEFA is currently investigating the Old Lady for possible violations of financial fair play and club licensing agreements.
Much of the alleged illegal activity is said to have occurred during Paratici’s time in Turin, with the Tottenham sporting director accused of wrongdoing by several former colleagues.
With the investigation underway, La Gazzetta dello Sport intercepted a number of phone calls involving Cherubini in which he expressed his displeasure with Paratici’s handling of Juventus’ finances..
Cherubini stated to an unidentified third party: “Fabio drugged the market.” That is, even Kulusevski and Chiesa, who are excellent players, but we paid too much for them when we bought them. Kulusevski had spent five months in Serie A, and we paid €35 million plus €9 million in bonuses for him, totaling €44 million.”
Paratici’s influence over Juventus’ financial dealings and player signings appears to have grown over the course of his time at the club. By the end of his contract, the former Palermo and Sassuolo midfielder had completed deals worth up to $50 million with no outside help.
Cherubini expressed his displeasure to Juventus executive Stefano Bertola:
“If Fabio awoke with a headache or a drink, he could spend €20 million without telling anyone.” It was perilous.”
After the departure of fellow executive Beppe Marotta in 2018, Paratici’s influence in Juventus’ transfer dealings only grew.
The signing of Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid in 2018 was perhaps the most famous – and contentious – of Paratici’s signings. Surprisingly, Juventus paid more than £100 million to bring the then-33-year-old to Turin, believing he could be the key to winning the Champions League.
The crisis at Juventus is far from over, with chairman Andrea Agnelli and director Pavel Nedved resigning from their positions with immediate effect earlier this week..
Leave a Reply