“We were 20 years ahead” – Paratici opens up on Juventus stint, Ronaldo & capital gains | OneFootball

Former Juventus sporting director Fabio Paratici looked back on his unforgettable 11 years in Turin, with all its glories and sorrows.

Following an on-and-off stint at Tottenham Hotspur, the 53-year-old has recently returned to Italy, taking charge of Fiorentina.

Nevertheless, Paratici will forever be associated with Juventus and his mentor-turned-foe Giuseppe Marotta.

Fabio Paratici talks Beppe Marotta and Juventus experience

The Italian director began his career as Marotta’s right-hand man at Sampdoria. The duo moved together to Juventus in 2010, and Paratici eventually usurped the General Director in 2018, who ended up leaving the club and joining arch-rivals Inter.

Since then, the two men’s rapport turned sour, but Paratici remains grateful for everything Marotta has done for him, even if the latter was accused of sabotaging his move to Milan last year.

“Milan and I already had an agreement. Twice within fifteen days. Only the signature was missing. Then they told me it was all off,” revealed the 53-year-old in his interview with Corriere della Sera via JuventusNews24.

“Was Marotta involved? I don’t know, I don’t think so. He denied it, and I certainly didn’t call him; what could I have said? ‘Was it you?’ And what could he have replied? ‘Of course not…’ It’s water under the bridge. My story is in Florence.”

“I have no issues with Beppe. On the contrary, I learned so much from him. Want an example? How to dress. He brought me to Sampdoria as head of scouting the day after I stopped playing, and I kept going around dressed like a footballer — hoodie, sneakers, and so on.

“Until Beppe told me that in the office you wear a suit and tie, and the same when dealing with players.”

Paratici was one of the main catalysts behind the team the Juventus team that went on to dominate Italian football for nine years.

He still feels that the Bianconeri were light-years ahead of the competition at the time.

“We were twenty years ahead of everyone else. We had a visionary president (Andrea Agnelli), a knowledgeable director (Marotta), the talent I recognise in myself for ‘seeing’ players, the most prepared coaches, and the most serious players.

“And the difficulties of the Milan clubs in managing the decline of their great ownership families, that has to be said.”

Paratici explains Ronaldo deal, opens up on Allegri, Sarri & capital gains

Paratici became the de facto leader of the club’s sports project when he pulled off the Cristiano Ronaldo coup in 2018, a move that Marotta had objected to for financial reasons.

Nevertheless, the sporting director insists that it was the right thing to do, not only for Juventus, but the entirety of Italian football.

“Valuable for Juventus, important for everyone — just as Mourinho later was at Roma. A league needs big personalities.

“We all wanted the Champions League, and in the first year we could have won it; the elimination by Ajax still sticks with me.

“The problem was that by scoring a goal per game, Cristiano made life too easy for his teammates, who had already won a lot. That’s why we changed coaches — to try to shake things up.”

At the time, Paratici and Pavel Nedved urged Agnelli to sack his good friend Allegri, and replace him with Maurizio Sarri, a move that the president later regretted.

Paratici has now admitted that Allegri was perhaps the most suitable head coach to manage CR7 and the rest of the star-studded squad.

“Did Allegri struggle with Ronaldo? No. Max is the most intelligent of them all; his ability to manage relationships with players makes the difference.

“Sarri had some difficulty at the start, more tactically rigid, but then he adapted. And he won the league too — many have forgotten that.”

Paratici was the main protagonist in the Plusvalenza investigation, which resulted in a ban for Juve’s top officials, including former president Agnelli. Juventus, as a club, was accused of registering capital gains through illegal manoeuvres, including inflated market values.

Nevertheless, the Fiorentina director insists he is innocent of any wrongdoing.

“I don’t feel guilty of anything, if that’s what you’re asking. That said, it was a very heavy experience because the criminal investigation lasted five and a half years, and it took strength to endure it.

“I was convicted for a technical-financial strategy that involved many internationals — I’ll name Rovella, Orsolini, Spinazzola.

“An accounting principle never seen before was applied, and I’m waiting to review it: in the documents, they talk about this, not inflated capital gains, as is being claimed around. In the sporting trial, you don’t really defend yourself — there’s little you can do.

“The criminal case, I wanted to close it so I could start living again.”