Marcello Lippi believes Juventus should cash in on Paul Pogba and use the funds to improve the rest of their squad.
The legendary Bianconeri Coach recalls that he faced a similar situation in his second spell at the club, with Zinedine Zidane being sold to Real Madrid.
Lippi went on to win back-to-back Scudetti and reach the Champions League Final after the money was invested prudently, and the World Cup winner believes today’s Juve could do the same.
Marcello Lippi believes Juventus should cash in on Paul Pogba and use the funds to improve the rest of their squad.
The legendary Bianconeri Coach recalls that he faced a similar situation in his second spell at the club, with Zinedine Zidane being sold to Real Madrid.
Lippi went on to win back-to-back Scudetti and reach the Champions League Final after the money was invested prudently, and the World Cup winner believes today’s Juve could do the same.
“When I went back to Juventus, [Gianni] Agnelli called me and told me he had to sell Zidane,” Lippi recalled in an interview with Sky.
“He was the best player in the world, but they gave us 150 billion lire [€77m], he told me not to worry, that it would all be spent on the team.
“We bought, [Gianluigi] Buffon, [Pavel] Nedved and [Lilian] Thuram, regrouped and the team kept winning.
“It would be a massive sacrifice of course, for Juventus to lose Pogba, but it would be for so much money that they could buy three or four players to help them be consistent.”
Lippi was also on the bench at Inter during his coaching career, and played for Sampdoria during his playing days, so the 66-year-old discussed his former clubs as well as the rest of Serie A.
“Inter and Milan? They’re under construction, they’ve made a lot of changes. It’s not easy to instil the right mentality.
“As for Inzaghi, he started his career over the past few years, showing a good attitude and getting results. Coaching a big team like Milan isn’t easy, there are a lot of things that have to work.
“Sampdoria? Mihajlovic has been very good, he’s given them a great mentality and has them playing fast aggressive football.
“Can they make the Champions League? It’s all still open, don’t forget about Fiorentina too. Milan’s bad campaign gives everyone hope, Napoli are improving and I make them favourites.
“As for Juventus, it seems to me they were the cleverest in the first half of the season, they have something extra, particularly in a mental sense.
“The only downside to their first half of the season is they had a lot of injuries so important players in some positions had to play every game, and that can be a problem in the long-run.
“The club will have to act to enlarge the squad, but they’re still the strongest.”