Having won Serie A in the past eight years and absent of interruption in its dominance, Italian club Juventus has all the reasons to be beaming with pride. Add to that is the presence of Cristiano Ronaldo, who likely will take home his sixth Ballon d'Or this year, then indeed things are looking up.
The quest now for the Bianconeri is to secure the future as Ronaldo will soon get past his prime. According to club chairman Andrea Agnelli, Juventus will be searching for the new Ronaldo, specifically for the younger version of the Portuguese superstar.
To support this mission, Agnelli has asked the club shareholders for a capital increase of €300 million to fund the club's development plan in the next five years, per Bleacher Report. The chairman added Juventus will continue on the sponsorship deal with Jeep, which should ensure that the future plotted by the club will stay on a steady course.
Juventus with Ronaldo provided the affirmation that the club is now among the giants in the European football league, Agnelli said.
"When Cristiano, the number one, arrived, it was made clear that now any player can choose Juventus ahead of Real Madrid, Manchester United or Barca," the chairman was reported as saying.
Also, Agnelli took note that Juventus is now on the fifth spot in UEFA ranking, and there is no reason not to gun for number four. Likely, it will happen sooner should the club capture again the Champions League title as the last time was in 1996.
Juventus will be more widely recognizable in the coming years, and that will be in line with the plan of maintaining the club's leadership position in football, the chairman said.
"We wanted Juventus to become a global brand and it's an objective that we have achieved. Our vision is to make Juventus prosper as a modern, innovative and iconic brand," Yahoo Sports reported Agnelli as saying.
Growth is key to the club's sustainability, and that would mean Juventus needs to keep its competitiveness and profitability at the same time, the chairman said.
Competitiveness is Juventus looking beyond the Ronaldo era even the superstar is showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon. The Sun said the Portuguese just had his 700th goal at 34 and insisted he remains sharp.
Nonetheless, Juventus will continue searching for the next superstar backed by £260 million of fund support.
Per the same report from The Sun, the Italian club is apparently targeting two talents presently in the roster of Paris Saint-Germain, identified as Edinson Cavani and Kylian Mbappe. The latter was recently praised by teammate Neymar for playing amazing football.
