
The 7 October 2020 edition of the Sole 24 Ore, in the space reserved for football, focuses on the decidedly high salaries of Juventus and puts them in contrast to the club’s not exactly idyllic accounts. The compensation of the top management of Juventus was not affected by the worsening of the results in the financial statements at 30 June 2020. The net loss increased from -39.9 to -89.7 million euros, net financial debts in twelve months went from 463,5 to 385.2 million: in practice, net of the 300 million from the recapitalization, debts increased by 221 million.
Fabio Paratici, Juventus’ Chief Football Officer (CFO), has the highest salary: 2.86 million in gross monetary compensation, 39 thousand euros more than the previous season. The structure of Paratici’s paycheck has changed: the salary as an employee, the fixed salary, increased from 1.96 to 2.6 million, while the bonus linked to results decreased from 858 thousand to 260 thousand. President Andrea Agnelli, on the other hand, earns 475,000 euros, Nedved 469,000 euros (30,000 less than the previous year).
Juventus in 2015/16 had an income statement in line with turnover, a net debt of half the current one, a much stronger team. In 2017 they decide to buy a player of almost 30 for an insane amount compared to the parameters of Juve: Higuain. He didn’t bring what he should have brought. The situation degenerated with Ronaldo’s first year, with a gap between cost and revenues of 170 million. Juventus is obliged to make 155 million in capital gains, a squad poorly distributed in the roles, very expensive, full of injured players, with skyrocketing salaries. To worsen the situation there is the 2020 half-year report which highlights another 100 million gap between costs and revenues. Not taking into account the economic impact of Covid, therefore Juventus needs to make capital gains, again this year. Next year, keeping the current squad, we are talking about 180 million more costs.
The current Juventus team is much less strong than what is expressed by the cost of the squad. What is most surprising is the policy of engagement renewals. Renewing a player like Khedira from 4 to 6 million, who has advanced in years, always injured, is incomprehensible. Spending everything for De Ligt, with an exorbitant salary, creating turbulence in the whole structure of the squad’s salaries. Renewing Bonucci at 37 is incomprehensible to me.