Cobolli believes in Juve Scudetto

Cobolli believes in Juve Scudetto
Tuesday 28 October, 2008

Despite Juventus’ stuttering start to the season, President Giovanni Cobolli Gigli still believes they can win the Scudetto.

“This is not the moment to make plans, but to get back into a position where we can focus on the Scudetto again,” said the chief.

“All is not lost, we are coming off a good week and the tournament has levelled out thanks to the many outsiders getting results.”

The Bianconeri have narrowed the gap from the Serie A leaders to five points despite an epic injury crisis.

It is their first real title push since their demotion in the Calciopoli scandal in 2006 and this evening the club went over the accounts in a shareholders’ meeting.

The last year has seen Juventus run at a loss of over £16m, but they consider that to be very nearly a success.

“Juve are close to breaking even, which is good considering before going into Serie B the club lost on average between £22m and £32m,” explained general manager Jean Claude Blanc.

“The path we have taken is to improve sporting results by focusing on youngsters and containing costs. This is the only approach we can take.

“If Jorge Andrade’s injury had not knocked £5.5m off his valuation, the situation would have been even better. Considering we were not in the Champions League, it is a good result.”

The Old Lady is also set to start work on building a new stadium and announced the demolition of the Delle Alpi will begin in three weeks.

The new arena should be ready in May 2011, getting rid of the unpopular athletics track and reducing capacity to 40,600.

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